Can't Feel In The Dark
by Maylana1129
Summary: Nathan and Audrey are faced with a challenging Trouble that they can't find the source of. Can they figure it out before more people get hurt? Can they figure out their own feelings while they solve the case? Story is set around the time of 4x06.
1. Chapter 1 - Prologue

**A/N: **This is a case fic that happens around the time of Countdown, 4x06. Nathan and Audrey haven't learned about the escalation of the Troubles yet, nor about the two threatening 'men' from the barn assaulting people. They haven't personally dealt with their feelings or own situation yet either. I hope you like it. I am using it as my NaNoWriMo piece, so I just started it yesterday. I'd love some feedback.

Disclaimer: I only own the storyline, not the characters or settings.

* * *

_Prologue – September 1983_

The light hurt her eyes even though it was early morning and the sun wasn't all the way up yet. She winced as she looked up at the noise a squirrel made in a tree. She was cold and the ground hurt her bare feet. She wasn't sure where she was going, she didn't even recognize the street she was walking down. Being outside seemed like a dream, except she couldn't really remember having any dreams lately.

She had been brave when she woke up. She had given up on the idea of getting out of the tiny room a long time ago. But the house had been so quiet for so long and she was getting very hungry. Her hunger had made her brave. She had tried to turn the knob slowly, so slowly, in case _he _was nearby, she didn't want him to hear her.

She shuddered, and not just from the cold. She didn't want to think about _him_.

"Are you alright?" a nearby voice called out.

The girl turned, ready to run. She saw a lady on the other side of the street. She started moving faster, she didn't want to go back to the tiny, dark room, but she stumbled on her numb feet and fell on the ground.

"Honey, no," the lady said in a kind voice, as she was running over to her. The girl looked up as she tried to sit and saw the lady seemed nice. After all, the man was a _man_. She had never heard a woman, so maybe she was safe.

The woman was wearing a light jacket, as it wasn't too cold in early September. She took it off and wrapped it around the little girl. She paused to look at her sitting on the ground. She was in a dirty t-shirt, sweatpants and no shoes or socks. Her hair was uneven and uncombed. Her face was very pale and her eyes were sunken in her head. "Who are you?" she asked softly.

The little girl looked up at the nice lady who had given her the soft coat. "I don't know."

The woman looked startled. "You don't know your name?" she asked. The little girl shook her head slowly. She tried another question, "Where did you come from?"

The little girl shrugged her shoulders, she didn't want the lady to be mad that she couldn't answer her questions.

The lady looked around, not sure what to do. She was afraid if she moved, the little girl would disappear. She had to call the police, something wasn't right here. She noticed her neighbor opening the door to get her paper. "Tammy!" she called.

Her neighbor looked over at the sound of her name. "Call 911, this little girl needs help."

* * *

Present Day

Audrey was sitting at her desk catching up on some paperwork. She was giving serious thought to pretending that Lexie knew nothing about completing paperwork when Nathan came in their office.

"Morning," he said as he handed her a cup of coffee.

She tasted it and nodded, "It's okay, not too hot."

"Thanks," Nathan said as he went over to his desk. Things had been awkward since he had figured out she was only pretending to be Lexie. He was upset that she hadn't told him, she was upset that he was trying to make her kill him to end the Troubles. They were in a kind of emotional stalemate. Audrey had put it on the line the day before when she had admitted that she loved him. They really hadn't talked much since then.

Just then, the phone rang, it's shrillness in the silence making her jump. Nathan answered it, listened for a moment. "Okay, thanks, Laverne. We'll check it out."

"Weird 911 call, probably a Trouble," he explained as he hung up the phone. "Woman called in saying she just went blind all of a sudden. She's pretty freaked out, paramedics are on the way, but we should probably check it out." He had stood up while he was talking, grabbing the light jacket he had left over his chair.

Audrey was already on her feet. "Were there any more details than that?" she asked.

Nathan shook his head, "Nope," he replied.

The drive over to the house was quiet. Audrey couldn't stop thinking about the woman they were going to talk to. She was mostly past the fact that the Troubles were supposed to be gone. She had been pretty angry that Nathan had shot Howard, and her sacrifice had been for nothing. She had to admit that part of her was glad to be back, back with him and Duke. The guilt was also there, guilt she was reminded of with every new Troubled person they encountered.

Nathan was also caught up in his thoughts. He felt like he had messed everything up, more so than usual. He knew he was terrible at the emotional things, like relationships. He realized that he should have gone after Audrey yesterday, after she had stormed off. He had just been so shocked that she had said it out loud, _Because I love you_. He kept hearing it in his head, but he felt like when he didn't go after her, he had lost his opportunity to do anything about it. Things were so tense now, he didn't know what to do.

He pulled up to the curb, behind the ambulance. There was a little commotion outside, a few neighbors trying to see what was going on. Nathan and Audrey hopped out of the Bronco and walked up to the front door. There was a uniformed officer that Audrey didn't know at the door who let them in.

At first glance, Audrey noticed how nice and homey the little house was. The hallway that led to the living room was covered in family pictures. The scene in the living room was far from serene, however.

There was a woman sitting on a grey couch. She looked to be in her thirties. She had short brown hair and a slight figure. She was obviously agitated, and was demanding answers from the paramedic that was kneeling in front of her. He was looking into her eyes with a light. Her pupils were huge, but she acted like there was no light at all.

"What is happening to me?" she cried.

Audrey immediately went over to her. "Ma'am, my name is Lexie, and I am with the Haven police department. My partner is here, too, Detective Wuornos." Audrey took the woman's hand, and even though it seemed like she was going to pull away, she didn't. "What's your name?"

"Beth Markins," the woman replied.

Audrey continued to hold Beth's hand. "Beth, can you tell me what happened?"

Nathan came closer to the women, and the paramedic continued his ministrations, checking her blood pressure.

Beth took a deep breath. "I was reading. It was my day off, and I was really excited to finally have a chance to start my new book. I had been reading for a few minutes when all of a sudden, I started to feel anxious." She frowned. "It was weird, like I was afraid, but that's silly, I was reading a romance novel."

"It's okay," Audrey soothed her. "Just keep telling us what you remember."

"As I got more and more nervous, it became harder to read. Then out of the blue, with no warning, I just couldn't see anymore. Everything went dark. I tried to close my eyes, to see if something would be different when I opened them again. It wasn't," she was becoming more upset, on the verge of tears now.

"Was anyone in the house with you?" Nathan asked.

"No," Beth replied. "My husband is working. "I'm a substitute teacher over at the high school, but they didn't need me today, and since that doesn't happen often, I was planning on having a day to just relax."

The paramedic stood up. "I can't see any physical reason for what is happening, but there could be something going on that I can't see. I'm going to get my partner, and I think we should run you to the hospital for some tests."

Beth became more agitated. "I just don't understand."

"We'll follow you to the hospital," Audrey said. "We'll also call your husband, and let him know what's going on." She squeezed Beth's hand gently. "You won't be alone."

Beth nodded, and said "Okay, thank you. I got so scared, I called 911. I didn't call my husband yet."

The paramedics came in with the stretcher, and they helped the woman onto it. They all left the house together, with Audrey thinking ahead and grabbing Beth's purse off of the table in the hallway. Nathan made sure the house was locked up, and they both went over to their car.

* * *

Later, Nathan and Audrey were walking down the corridor in the hallway towards Beth's room when they heard yelling. Looking at each other for a split second, they both started running without saying anything. The sounds were coming from Beth's room. A doctor and several nurses were in the room, and a man that Audrey could only assume was Beth's husband was standing in the corner.

Beth looked over at the door when they came running in. "I can see!" she was yelling. She was so excited, that she was trying to get out of the bed, but the nurses kept pushing her back. Nathan and Audrey tried to stay out of everyone's way, and eventually, everything calmed down.

The doctor looked serious. "Mrs. Markins," he began. "All of the tests we did came back negative, there is no reason that I can see, physical reason anyway, for your spontaneous loss of sight. I'd like you to stay a few more hours so we can observe you, and see what happens."

Beth nodded vigorously. She reached towards her husband, who immediately came forward to take her hand. He sat down in the chair next to the bed. "We'll stay as long as you think we need to, doctor."

Audrey looked Mr. Markins over. _Could either of them be Troubled?_ she wondered.

The doctor and nurses left the room, leaving just the four of them. Nathan spoke first, "Beth, we're the detectives that were at your house, Lexie DeWitt and Nathan Wuornos."

Beth looked calmer. "Thank you for coming with me, what do you think happened?"

Audrey walked over to the other side of the bed. "Have you heard of the Troubles?"

"Yes," Beth's husband said. "I'm Troubled. My family always has been, but it has nothing to do with blindness."

"Can we ask what your Trouble is, Mr. Markins?" Nathan asked.

"Sure," he replied. "But call me Ben. Our Trouble isn't too bad compared to some I've seen. I get sick," he explained. "I mean really sick. I have to be careful, because if I catch a cold, I get a crazy high fever and am in bed for days. Doctors have always said it was impossible to get such a high fever and come out of it with no brain damage." He shook his head. "I mean it is killer, and it takes me forever to recover, but eventually I am fine. I've just been a hand washing nut my whole life."

Audrey thought about it for a minute. "So, never anything with your sight?"

Ben shook his head. "No," he said.

Nathan looked at Beth. "What about your family?"

"No one in my family has ever been Troubled before," she said. "I was always glad of it, because I see how much Ben suffers when he gets sick, but nothing before."

Audrey sat down in the other chair. "I'm sorry to ask you again, but could you start at the beginning and walk us through what happened?"

Beth recounted her morning step by step, but Nathan and Audrey couldn't see any clues in anything that she had told them. It didn't seem like it was a mutation of her husband's Trouble, and they felt like they had nothing to go on. They left the hospital a little while later, after promising to check up on the Markins' to make sure the blindness hadn't come back.

"What do you think?" Audrey asked when they were back in the Bronco. "Trouble or no?"

Nathan shrugged. "It's Haven. It's probably a Trouble. With what is going on lately, I wouldn't be surprised if she was getting a new Trouble, like catching a cold."

"I just wish we could be sure," Audrey said, frustrated.

They drove in silence for a few minutes after that. "Let's go back to her house and if we can find anything there." Audrey suggested.

"Sounds good," Nathan replied.

* * *

They had spent the better part of two hours in her house, and they found nothing that suggested anything that could have triggered the Trouble. The house was immaculate, with soap everywhere, but Audrey felt that was a result of Ben's Trouble. They headed back to the station, at a loss, until something more happened.

Something more happened that afternoon when there was a small explosion at the high school when a chemistry teacher had an accident with some chemicals during class. Audrey and Nathan went right over to the school when they heard the teacher was saying that she couldn't see. By the time they had gotten there, the teacher's sight had returned, even though it had only taken them a few minutes to drive over.

They had talked to the teacher at length, after the firemen had left. The paramedics had left also, since they couldn't find anything wrong, and she declined to go to the hospital. The teacher, Anabeth Tomlinson, had lived in Haven all of her life, and had been teaching at the high school for 10 years. She had heard of the Troubles, but stated that no one in her family was Troubled.

She had been instructing the students on how to complete an experiment when she started to get upset. She said there had been nothing that caused her to get scared, no student had acted threateningly. Then, a few minutes later, she suddenly couldn't see. She dropped the chemicals she was holding, and while flailing her arms, had knocked over several others. She had the presence of mind to yell to the students to get out of the room, so there were only minor injuries when the chemicals had reacted to each other. Then, a few minutes after the firemen and paramedics arrived, her sight had returned.

Her story was so similar to Beth Markins, it really didn't provide Nathan and Audrey with much more information to go on. Tomlinson had heard of Markins, but they didn't know each other well. They headed back to the station, feeling like they were missing something.

"Maybe it has something to do with teachers?" Audrey ventured.

Nathan looked over at Audrey as he got out of the truck. "That's the only link I can see so far. Let's go over their movements and financials to see if they intersect anywhere else."

Audrey nodded as they walked into the station. _What was going on? _ she wondered to herself.


	2. Chapter 2 - A Missing Child

Later that evening, Audrey was sitting downstairs from her apartment at the Gull, having a quick sandwich. She wasn't really tasting it, her mind was preoccupied. They had spent the rest of the afternoon looking for parallels in the lives of the two women, but had found nothing more to go on than their connection at the high school. But even that seemed to be a dead end. They had no contact with each other at the school, and no one they had interviewed at the school had any insights.

And then there had been the tension between her and Nathan. She really missed the easy companionship they had shared before all of this. They still hadn't talked about her declaration of love or his feelings towards her. The only good thing was that as long as they weren't talking, then he also wasn't pressuring her to kill him. She had a feeling that wouldn't last. She sighed. _How did we get here,_ she wondered, not for the first time.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, startling her out of her thoughts. She looked at the screen, and only debated for a split second before answering Nathan's call.

"Hello," she said.

"We got a kid missing," Nathan said urgently.

Audrey was taken aback, "What?"

"Molly Primrose, 11 years old, never made it home from school. May not be Trouble related, but…" he paused.

"Missing children take priority, where am I meeting you?" she asked as she jumped up.

"Already on my way to the Gull to pick you up," he replied.

They hung up just as Duke walked over to her, "What's up?" he said.

Audrey was putting on her jacket, looking for cash in her pocket for the food. Duke waved her away as she answered, "Little girl is missing, Nathan's on his way."

"Who?" Duke asked, his posture changing to a more alert stance.

"A Molly Primrose, 11," she said.

Duke shook his head, "Primrose, I know the name, I think Nathan and I went to school with one of them. Need help?"

"Is the family Troubled?" she asked as she turned to walk to the door.

Duke came with her to the porch outside, "Not that I know of."

"We'll see what's going on," Audrey said as she saw the Bronco starting to pull towards the front of the bar. "We may need you, or your resources."

Duke nodded, "No problem."

Audrey had barely climbed in when Nathan was on the move again. They were headed to the school, to see if they could retrace her route home. Other detectives had already interviewed the parents, and they said she walked home with friends every day, but there was a short stretch where she walked on her own. That was where Nathan and Audrey planned on concentrating their search.

* * *

They had been out for hours, and had found no clue as to Molly's whereabouts. It was like she had just disappeared. They ended up at the parent's house, trying to determine if the disappearance could be Trouble related, but that seemed a failure also. Everything pointed to a regular kidnapping or maybe she had run away.

It was past one in the morning when Nathan finally was driving Audrey back to her apartment. They were both quiet, disheartened by the day's frustrating lack of movement on both of the cases. Audrey hesitated when Nathan pulled up to the Gull.

"You okay?" he asked when she didn't get out of the car.

"I'm tired, I'm a little hungry, and I'm a lot frustrated," she replied. "I know I am going to go upstairs, and not be able to shut off everything that is going on in my mind. I know we are missing something, or not seeing a connection."

Nathan shrugged, "I could stay awhile, we could talk."

Audrey thought for a moment before she answered. She was too tired to maintain her annoyance with him, and his demeanor wasn't combative either. "I'd like that."

They climbed out of the truck at the same time and walked over to the staircase that led to her apartment. Audrey hesitated at the rail, looking out over the water. The town looked so peaceful from here, she could almost forget.

"Pretty," Nathan said in that infuriating terseness of his.

They went inside, and Audrey got them a couple beers from her fridge. She had been stocking them more now, maybe another holdover from Lexie. They sat on the couch, talking about the first case they had that day when Audrey started yawning. Maybe it was the beer, maybe it was the hour, or maybe it was just everything.

Nathan rested his hand on her arm, and she was startled for a moment, not that she showed it. Nathan almost never initiated contact.

"I should go and let you sleep," he said. He took a deep breath, and started to stand up. Once he wasn't looking at her anymore, he said, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Audrey asked, not understanding.

He turned to face her. "This was nice, talking and trying to figure things out. I've missed it. I'm sorry I made it hard to be like that now."

Audrey stood up. "You can't say that kind of thing right before you leave," she said.

"I don't want to argue anymore, I spent months devastated because I thought I lost you. Now you're here and I'm still screwing up," he said, all in one breath, like he was afraid of the admission.

"I won't deny I've been mad," she said carefully. "It was my choice to leave, it was my sacrifice to make. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, walking away from you."

Nathan started to say something, but she didn't give him a chance. "I won't deny that part of me is happy to be back, but I also feel really guilty about feeling that way. And, I am worried about James and what happened to him. Then, I had to try and keep you from knowing it was me, and the hurt was so plain on your face, every time I said or did something to push you away. It killed me."

"I'm worried about James, too," Nathan responded. "I can't stop thinking about how my actions probably caused his death. If he can't live without the barn's influence…" He sat back down on the couch, he was too tired to talk about things this heavy while standing up. "I know why you did what you did. I know why you had to have everyone think you were Lexie. But I wish you had told _me._"

Audrey sat back down next to him, annoyed. "It was you I especially had to keep it from! I needed time to sort things out without you asking me to kill you every five seconds. Still not happening, by the way."

"I don't want to argue about that now," Nathan said. "That feels like a whole other conversation. I just wanted to say I was sorry."

"Are you going to change your mind?" Audrey asked.

Nathan shook his head. "I don't see any other way out right now. The Troubles are getting worse, and the only thing I know for sure is that it's my fault."

"Then, for right now, I don't see what else there is to say," Audrey said, her spirit completely sagging. She stood up, "I think you are right about what you said before, I should get some sleep."

Nathan, never being the one to force the issue, but rather being the one to be more likely to walk away from it, walked over to the door, opened it, looked back at the love of his life on the couch, and said, "Night Audrey."

"Good night Nathan," she replied.

* * *

Audrey woke up groggy from not enough sleep. People going temporarily blind, a missing girl, and partner issues was enough to make what little sleep she had be less than restful. She threw on some clothes and went downstairs, where Duke was writing the specials of the day on the chalkboard outside of the Gull's front doors.

"Any word on Molly?" he asked when he saw her coming down the stairs.

"No," she said tiredly. "And we have this other weird Trouble that we can't figure out either."

"Weird Trouble? Isn't that redundant?" he asked.

"Look at you with the big words," Audrey managed a small smile.

Duke smiled bigger, "And there you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen, the elusive Audrey Parker smile, rarely seen, but glimpses have been reported."

Audrey closed the last few steps between them and hugged her friend. Surprised, Duke hugged back, and then moved awkwardly away when the door to the Gull opened. "What was that for?" he asked as Jennifer came outside.

"Hi Jennifer," Audrey said. Looking back at Duke, she replied, "For being you. You are the only person who doesn't seem to want something from me since I've been back."

"Duke? A selfless humanitarian?" Jennifer joked. "Better not let it get out and ruin his reputation."

Duke placed his hand on his heart with a look of mock hurt on his face. "Jennifer, you wound me."

She laughed and Audrey noticed the easy companionship between the two. She was happy for her friend, even though he didn't realize yet what was happening between them. He deserved to be happy. He was the one person that accepted her decision six months ago, accepted that it was her decision to make, even if he didn't like it. He had supported her every step of the way, even going so far as to go to Colorado with her. She knew what his feelings for her had been, and even though she didn't feel the same way, he was one of the most important people in her life. She was also slightly jealous of their burgeoning relationship. For them, everything was new, no one had hurt each other's feelings yet, no one had said or did something that they couldn't take back. What if she and Nathan couldn't get back to that place?

Almost on cue, the Bronco rolled down to the Gull. Nathan jumped out, but left his door open. He saw the scene in front of him and stood there, a bit uncomfortable. "Duke, Jennifer," he nodded. "Ready?" he said to Audrey.

"I'll see you guys later," Audrey said as she walked over to the truck. She climbed in and noticed the two coffee cups in the dash waiting. Duke and Jennifer had gone back inside, and Nathan was hurrying back into the seat.

"Thanks," Audrey said, motioning to the coffee. She tasted it and it was still pretty hot. "You'd better leave it for a minute."

Nathan nodded, but didn't say anything.

They spent some time at the station that morning, looking through the reports from the day before. Pretty much the whole town knew about Molly Primrose by now. Nathan and Audrey were focused on finding the source of the blindness attacks, when they got a report of a car accident a few blocks over. Someone had been killed. The person driving claimed that they couldn't see. They practically ran out of the station, maybe this would give them the piece of the puzzle they needed to find the person who was causing this.


	3. Chapter 3 - Darkness Unfolds

**A/N:** Thank you so much for the reviews and comments so far. I am excited about how this is coming out, and I wanted to make sure that I updated tonight as I may not be able to for a few days. Enjoy!

* * *

It didn't take them long to get to the accident site. There were plenty of people crowded around, watching the mess. There was a fire truck on site, and an ambulance parked quite close to the two cars. Audrey was struck by the obvious chaos of the scene. The police and emergency workers were trying to load a woman onto a stretcher and get her in the ambulance. She kept crying and screaming, quite terrified by what was going on. Audrey kept hearing her say, over and over, "Why can't I see?" There was another person, a little farther away on the road, a person that help was too late for.

Nathan was a seasoned officer of the law. He had seen many accidents and injuries, but there was something about this one. The cars were totaled, and the panic in the survivor's voice was heart wrenching. He and Audrey moved closer to the paramedics. There was so much debris in the road, they had to be careful where they walked.

Audrey was deliberate with her steps, she knew that everything had to be recorded for the investigation. With everything going on around them, for some reason, Audrey noticed the litter of a life that got unexpectedly interrupted. There were groceries and dry cleaning on the ground. She didn't know if they were thrown from the car when the impact happened, or if they were just tossed aside when the emergency workers were trying to extricate the victims from the cars. A little closer to the first car were several books, strewn over several feet. She snapped out of her reverie when she and Nathan reached the back door of the ambulance. The woman inside was calmer, just whimpering now instead of crying.

"Can we talk to her?" Nathan asked the paramedic. He didn't know this one, probably came aboard while he was in hiding from the Guard.

The paramedic shook his head, "We had to give her something to calm down, she was going to hurt herself, or us."

"She was saying something about her eyesight?" Audrey inquired.

He nodded, "Weird thing. She kept insisting that she went blind all of a sudden. She kept saying they were 'gone'. When I asked her what was gone, she said, 'her eyes'." He hopped up into the back of the ambulance. "Listen, we've got to get her going."

Nathan stepped back, allowing the door to close. After it drove away, he turned to Audrey. "That's three."

Audrey turned to look at the spectators ringing the area. "We're missing something." She paused. "I wonder if there is someone here that can answer questions, maybe someone noticed something."

They both took the better part of an hour interviewing all of the people, but most saw nothing. They had just come to see the show. One person told them that he was walking down the street when he saw the first car start to swerve back and forth. He stopped to watch, as he was shocked at the erratic driving. Suddenly, the car veered sharply to the left and ran right into the other car, without braking. "It was like they didn't see the other car, even though it was right there," the man said.

Nathan called the hospital and confirmed that the woman driving the car was in surgery, and would be for a while. "We need to start at the beginning and see what these three women have in common. Let's find out more about this one, and see if she worked at the high school."

Audrey agreed. "That'd be a good place to start."

They went back to the station, and things were more chaotic than usual with the accident and Molly still missing. They found out the name of the latest victim and discovered that she had absolutely no connection to the high school, not even a child that went there. She worked from home with some sort of computer based business. She seemed to be out running errands, they found a to do list in the purse that was recovered. Library, laundry and shopping were all crossed off. It looked like a perfectly normal kind of day.

Audrey's phone rang, and she answered, "Hi Duke, we're a little busy, what's up?" She stood up sharply and motioned to Nathan. He came right over and listened.

"When?" she asked. "We're on our way right now. Don't panic. Keep her calm." She listened for another moment, and started walking to the door. Nathan followed without question.

When she hung up the phone, they were already part way across the main room of the station. "Jennifer can't see."

Nathan was taken aback. "What?"

"It started moments before Duke called. She was just helping him at the Gull and she dropped tray of glasses. When he walked over to see what had happened, he found her scared to death and saying that she couldn't see anything."

"We need to find this Troubled person. This is getting closer together," Nathan said.

Audrey nodded.

* * *

They drove to the Gull in record time to find Duke and Jennifer in the back. He had his arms around her, comforting her. She was quite upset. Audrey quickly crossed the room and went to her. "Jennifer," she said softly.

Jennifer turned her head to the sound of Audrey's voice. "Audrey?" she said shakily.

"I'm here and so is Nathan. The first thing I want you to know is that you are the fourth person in the last 24 hours that we have seen like this. And two we know for sure got there sight back in a short time. The third we don't know because she was in a car accident and is in surgery. But, I'm guessing her sight will be fine, too."

Jennifer swallowed. "Okay, Duke told me that, but it feels good hearing it from you also. Do you know why this is happening?" She sat more upright, but she didn't let go of Duke's hand, and he didn't move his other arm from around her shoulders. He seemed very protective, Audrey would have smiled under different circumstances.

"We don't yet. We haven't connected the dots enough to find whose Trouble this is," she said.

"We're hoping you can help us with that," Nathan added.

"What can I do?" Jennifer asked.

"Can you tell us where you have been today? Any people you talked to?" Audrey inquired.

Jennifer thought for a moment. "I was here for a chunk of the morning, but then I went into town for a little."

"Where in town?" Nathan asked.

"I went to the shop with the salt water taffy, went to the library and went by the Herald. I'm hoping to get a job there," she explained.

"What is it?" Duke asked, looking at Audrey's face. She had that look where the puzzle pieces were starting to fall into place.

"The library," Audrey said.

"Library?" Nathan echoed.

"Or just books," Audrey explained. "The first woman was reading. The woman in the car accident had books in her car, I remember because they were all over the road. Her errands list had the library on it. What do you want to bet that the chemistry teacher had gone to the library prior to the accident?"

"That would explain the lack of overlap in financial activity," Nathan commented. He turned to Jennifer. "What did you do at the library? Did you talk to anyone there?"

Jennifer thought for a moment. "No one really, just the librarian. I was getting a library card."

"A librarian would come into contact with the patrons. What did you talk about?" Audrey asked.

"Now that you mention it, I remember she was pretty agitated. She was talking about the missing little girl. She kept saying that it was bad, bad for her to be missing," Jennifer answered.

"We've got to get to that library and talk to her, she may be our Troubled person," Audrey told Nathan, standing. She addressed Jennifer again. "Did you get her name?"

"Sara," Jennifer replied.

"Sara Heron," Duke said to Nathan. "Doesn't she work at the library?"

Nathan nodded, "That's interesting."

"What's interesting?" Audrey asked.

Nathan looked at her, "Sara Heron was kidnapped when she was little. They never found the guy. She was held in a house on the outskirts of Haven. She was found wandering the streets back in '87. When they finally tracked back to where she was being held, they found out who ever had her had been keeping her in a small room under a staircase."

"In the dark," Duke said.


	4. Chapter 4 - Blinding Trouble

**A/N: **I made a minor edit to the conversation Audrey had with Sara. I realized I mistyped something regarding that the man didn't like it when she cried, not when she talked. Sorry!

* * *

Nathan and Audrey were on the way to Sara Heron's house. They had stopped at the library first, but she wasn't there. She had left early, and wasn't answering her phone. Nathan had tried to recall more details of her case, but he couldn't.

"I know the Chief worked that one when he was a detective," he said.

Audrey was deep in thought. "Maybe, since people's Troubles are getting worse, she is somehow making others relive her situation from her kidnapping?"

Nathan looked doubtful. "I don't remember hearing of this type of problem before, in anyone. How is she doing it?"

"Do you think it's a coincidence that this is happening AND there is another missing girl?" Audrey asked.

Nathan was quiet for a moment while he thought about that. "You saying she has something to do with Molly?"

"Maybe not directly, maybe the situation just hit home for her, triggered her Trouble," Audrey mused.

Nathan slowed down and pulled up to a modest, little two story house. It looked welcoming, light blue with dark trim. "I guess we'll find out soon enough. Laverne said Sara lives here with her mother."

Nathan and Audrey jumped out of the truck quickly and walked up to the front door. Audrey noticed there was a nicely manicured garden with a lot of beautiful flowers. There wasn't much furniture anywhere outside, except for a little table and chair to the right side of the house. They knocked at the front door and after a moment, an older woman answered.

Audrey looked at her face, she seemed tired. The kind of tired that builds for a long time and wears you down. "Mrs. Heron?" Audrey asked.

"That's me, how can I help you?" the woman answered.

Audrey pulled out her badge and identification. "I'm Lexie DeWitt and this is Nathan Wuornos. We're with Haven PD."

The woman became wary. "Police Department? What is this about?"

"Is your daughter here?" Nathan interjected.

"Sara?" Mrs. Heron looked confused. "She's here, why?"

"We need to talk to her," Audrey explained in a calm voice. She had the feeling that this was a delicate situation. "She's not in any trouble, we just have a few questions for her."

Mrs. Heron thought for a moment, and then moved aside from the doorway, indicating they should come in. Once they were inside the foyer, she called up the stairs, "Sara. Please come down here."

Audrey and Nathan waited patiently for just a few moments. A small blond woman, in her mid-thirties peered down from the around the corner at the top of the stairs. "Mom? Why? I don't feel well." Then she saw Nathan and Audrey, became nervous.

Audrey sensed the change in Sara immediately and moved forward. Sara moved back, shrinking into the shadows at the top of the stairs. "Sara," Audrey said. "It's okay. We just have a few questions, we really need to talk to you."

Sara stopped moving backwards at the soothing sound of Audrey's voice. Nathan marveled, not for the first time, how Audrey could modulate her voice when she was talking to the Troubled. It was as if the very tones of her voice could calm them. He watched as she motioned for Sara to come out, exuding a feeling of peace that even he could sense. Sara came closer to the top of the stairs, and he hung back a little. He felt like he might spook her, and they still didn't know if she was infecting people with her Trouble, or how she might be doing it. He felt the background was the safest place for both of them and let Audrey take the lead.

"Sara," Audrey was saying. "Could you come down so we could talk?"

Sara's mother nodded reassuringly, and Sara moved down the stairs, very slowly. When she reached the bottom, the three women moved into the living room and sat down on the couches there. Nathan moved slowly as well, keeping himself out of the main focus of the conversation.

"You work at the library?" Audrey started. When Sara nodded, she continued. "Do you know Jennifer Mason, Anabeth Tomlinson, Beth Markins and" she checked her notepad for the accident victim's name, "Mary Williams?"

Sara thought for a moment. "Mrs. Tomlinson was in a day or two ago looking up things on the computer. I helped her. Beth came in because the romance books she had requested had come back in and Mary Williams paid some overdue fines and checked out more books. I helped a Jennifer today with a new library card, I think her name was Mason. Why?"

"Sara," Audrey began. "Do you know about the Troubles?"

Sara's mother jumped in. "Everyone does, why do you ask?"

"I think Sara might be Troubled," Audrey explained. When Sara looked agitated and moved toward her mother, Audrey continued quickly. "Those four women have recently lost their sight. It has already returned for two of them, and I am sure it will soon for the others, but the only thing that they have in common is a recent trip to the library."

"What?" Sara asked, clearly confused.

Sara's mother cleared her throat. Audrey and Sara looked at her, and she said, "It could be. There are stories about her father's side of the family. He died when she was a baby, while the Troubles were gone. She was too little when they were here last time."

Sara sat on the couch, clearly shocked. Audrey looked at Mrs. Heron. "Do you know the nature of the Trouble?"

Sara's mother shook her head. "I only know some stories, something about reliving a nightmare over and over. My husband wanted me to know that he was Troubled when we got married, but he didn't like to talk about it. But I don't remember anything about causing blindness."

"Did I hurt people?" Sara asked. "How do I make them blind?"

"We think that the people you come into contact with when you are upset are the ones who become blind, temporarily," Audrey explained. "Has something upset you recently?"

All at once, Sara looked terrified. She looked like she was going to run, so Audrey continued to speak, as soothingly as she could. "It's alright. No one can hurt you here. Jennifer Mason said you were upset about Molly Primrose? Do you know her?"

Sara spoke so softly, Nathan could barely hear her from the doorway. "_He_ has her. I know it."

Audrey knelt down in front of the terrified woman. She was hoping to calm her and keep her from running. "The man who took you?"

Sara looked at Audrey, her eyes wide with fear. She nodded slowly, as if the admission itself hurt her.

"Can you tell me why you think that?" Audrey asked.

"I saw him," she whispered.

"What?" Mrs. Heron exclaimed, loud enough to make everyone in the room jump. "Where?" She looked at Audrey, "I don't know how, she has never remembered much from the time she was taken."

Audrey took Sara's hands in her own, they were trembling. She seemed to draw strength from Audrey as she continued. "It's true. I don't remember much. There was a nice policeman who came and talked to me a lot when I first came home. I was scared of him for a while. I was scared of a lot of men, but he was so different than _him_. He made me feel better."

Audrey turned and motioned towards Nathan. "That was his father. We're here to help you again."

Sara looked up at Nathan hopefully, like she had just registered his presence. Nathan moved forward just slightly. "I remember my father being very upset that he was never able to find out who hurt you. If I can, I promise that I'll finish what he started."

Sara took his promise to heart and smiled a tiny little hint of a smile. She looked back at Audrey. "For a long time, I didn't remember anything specific. Just being cold and in the dark. I was always scared, and _he _was always there. I learned quickly not to make him mad. He didn't like it when I cried, so I stopped crying. He talked to me sometimes. When I got out, I didn't remember much of anything, not even my name."

Mrs. Heron continued when Sara trailed off. "They found her wandering a street on the outskirts of Haven. She was in different clothes from when she was taken and no shoes. She was gone for five months. When she came back to me, I barely recognized her. She seemed so tiny and fragile. She didn't know who I was. Most of her memories came back over time, but those five months never really did."

Audrey looked at Sara. "You said you saw him?" she prompted.

Sara swallowed, "Yes. I was on my way to the library. I was crossing the street and I saw a man come out of the shop nearby. He didn't see me, but I was instantly terrified. I just _knew_. Then, later, when I heard that little girl was missing, I was sure I was right."

"Did you tell anyone?" Nathan asked.

"No," Sara admitted. "I was afraid. Now you say I am hurting people, too?"

"Not on purpose," Audrey clarified. "We're trying to figure out how you are causing their blindness. Did you touch any of the women?"

Sara looked away, thinking back. "I think I did. I hugged Mrs. Tomlinson, Beth put her hand on my arm and asked if I was okay. She could tell I was upset about something. Mary Williams handed me the money for her books and I took Jennifer Mason's driver's license."

"Anyone you have touched in the last couple of days may be at risk," Audrey explained. Sara moved to take her hands out of Audrey's, clearly horrified. "It's okay, you don't have to worry about me."

"But why blindness?" asked Sara.

"I am thinking that seeing your abductor triggered your Trouble," Audrey explained. "Every time you got upset, the person you most recently came into contact with lived your nightmare with you. Were you thinking about being in the dark a lot?"

"Yes," Sara admitted. "It is the thing I dream about at night the most. I was doing better. I can never forget things all the way, but there were actually some days where it wasn't the first thing I thought about when I woke up."

"And now that he is back, your fear is in overdrive," Audrey looked at Nathan. "I bet if we find the man that took Sara, we'll find Molly Primrose." She looked back at Sara. "You should stay home while we look for him. Anyone you come into contact with…"

Sara nodded, "It's okay. I came home early from the library because I was scared of him finding me." Her mother started to pull her into her arms, but Sara jerked away. "Mom, I don't want to hurt you."

Her mother shook her head. "I'm not worried. I've touched you several times. I'll stay home too, and if I go blind, I'm sure it will be alright, yes?" she addressed that last part to Audrey.

"You are probably right. Each time, the blindness has been temporary," Audrey answered.

Nathan added, "While we were talking, my phone buzzed, a message from Duke. Jennifer is alright, her sight is back. No lingering effects."

Mrs. Heron nodded vigorously. "That settles that, then. We'll stay home and you'll find the bastard that hurt my baby, _and_ find that little girl."

Nathan and Audrey left a little while later. They had spent some time with Sara and her mother, going over everything she could remember from her abduction. There wasn't much. They decided to head back to the station to pull up the Chief's old file on her case.

Walking back to the car, Nathan said, "She can't stay in that house forever and Molly…"

"She won't be able to control her Trouble if she doesn't feel safe," Audrey interrupted. "The only way to end this is to find the man who took her and Molly. We need to send someone over to get a sketch of the man she saw on the street."

"As long as they don't touch her," Nathan said.


	5. Chapter 5 - Stubborn

**A/N: **Here is another chapter. Nathan and Audrey are being stubborn, each caught in their own pain. Don't worry, I think they'll come out of it soon.

* * *

They worked for hours, going over the file. There wasn't anything there that the Chief hadn't chased thoroughly down.

"I'm thinking that the sketch will be the thing we need to figure this out," Audrey said, frustrated. She sat down at her desk and dropped her head into her hands. She hated feeling helpless.

"The Chief didn't have a description, so you're probably right," Nathan said as he started to move towards her, on instinct to comfort her. He realized what he was doing and stopped. He figured he wouldn't be welcome in that way. He liked how they had fallen back into sync throughout the day, working the case. He wondered if that was all that they could be, partners. They did that so well, but they kept messing up the personal side of things. "We can't do any more tonight. It's late, really late."

Audrey looked up at the clock and saw he was right. Her stomach grumbled and she realized they hadn't eaten in hours. She felt guilty thinking about food while a little girl was missing.

Almost as if he could read her mind, Nathan said, "You can't help her if you fall apart at the wrong moment from exhaustion. Let's go check on Jennifer and get you something to eat. We can start fresh in the morning, and we'll have a sketch, too."

Audrey thought about it for a moment. She was too tired to argue. She thought that sometimes, her empathy was her Trouble. It was like she couldn't stop until she fixed things. "Okay, let's go. I'm assuming that Duke isn't letting Jennifer out of his sight, so, Gull?"

"You think he's watching her that closely?" Nathan asked.

Audrey managed a short laugh. "Oh, yes. He may not realize it yet, but yes, he's not going to let anything happen to her."

"Really?"

"Really."

They left the station and drove in silence to the Grey Gull. Nathan wanted so much to talk to her, tell her what was in his heart. Problem was, he was pretty sure that she knew, and he was afraid that it wouldn't matter, that they had gone too far away from each other.

Audrey, meanwhile, was in her own head, thinking about how to find a little missing girl. She was trying to _not _think about the man sitting next to her. How could she convince him that killing him was not the way? There was too much going on right now to worry about it. They pulled up to the bar, and it looked like a slow night. The partners walked in the door and saw Duke and Jennifer sitting close together in a back booth.

Walking over to them, Audrey smiled. They were oblivious to their approach, intent on each other. Jennifer looked up when they got closer and smiled.

"Hi!" she said brightly. "Good to _see_ you!"

Duke groaned. "All night with the bad sight puns, all night."

Jennifer giggled when Nathan and Audrey sat down across from her and Duke. "Glad to _see _you're okay," Nathan said.

Jennifer laughed and Duke smacked his hand on his forehead. "Not you too!"

Audrey inwardly smiled at the interplay between Nathan and Duke. It was nice to see such a change in their relationship. She remembered how contentious it had been when she first came to Haven. Something had changed while she had been gone, and it was a good something. Jennifer had a basket of fries in front of her, and Audrey started nibbling, her hunger getting the better part of her attention.

Duke noticed, "Hungry, officers?"

When they nodded, he jumped off and went over to the kitchen. He came back with a couple of beers and set them down in front of Nathan and Audrey. "So, Sara?" he asked.

Nathan nodded, "It's her. She's reliving her kidnapping. People who have come into physical contact with her are living it with her."

"I don't know if it's blindness," Audrey continued. "I think it is the fact she was held in the dark, I think it is more like she is projecting her fear and helplessness and is remembering her prison."

Jennifer seemed to think about it for a minute. "Actually, that makes sense. It wasn't pure blackness. When Duke was talking to me, after you left, I started calming down. Now that you mention it, there were shapes in the darkness."

Audrey sat up. "Shapes?"

"Nothing that I could make out, I just mean that you might be right about it not being actual blindness," she answered.

They talked for a while, and both Audrey and Nathan started to relax in the company of their friends. Audrey didn't know Jennifer all that well, but she really liked the effect she had on Duke. Watching the two of them made her feel lighter somehow. She decided right there that Jennifer was going to be a good friend to have.

Nathan watched them as well. Now that Audrey had pointed it out to him, he saw it, too. Duke was at ease around Jennifer. Her smile was infectious, and he caught himself smiling once or twice. He was a little worried, however. He was counting on Duke's feelings for Audrey to keep her safe when he was gone. Would he still protect her if he was distracted with Jennifer? There was no telling what the Guard would do if something went wrong, and he knew now, Duke was the only person he could trust. _Wow, _ he thought. _I never thought I'd say that!_

He looked over at the growing amount of empty beer bottles on the table. Another one of Lexie's holdovers was that Audrey seemed to drink a bit more now. He was well on his way to feeling much better than he had in days.

Jennifer yawned, Duke noticed and became a little mother hen-ish. "We should get you to bed, you've had a rough day."

Jennifer nodded, "I am pretty tired." She looked at Audrey, "Sorry to drink and run."

Audrey shrugged, "It's easier for me," she explained. "Best place to live I think, is right over the bar you hang out at, cuts down on the drunk driving," she joked.

Duke looked at Nathan. "What about you, officer? You need a ride home?"

Nathan didn't want to leave yet. This was the most comfortable he and Audrey had been since he found out she _was_ Audrey. "Nope, I'm good."

Duke looked doubtful, but he didn't say anything. He hopped up, offered his hand to Jennifer, and she stood up. They walked away from the booth and Nathan considered moving to the other side and giving Audrey her space. He stayed where he was and traced the edge of the label on the beer bottle, not feeling the condensation that ran over his fingertips.

They stayed like that, in companionable silence for several minutes, neither of them wanting to break the spell that Duke and Jennifer had cast over them. It was as if they instinctively knew that the moment wasn't going to last, that they were going to start arguing as soon as one of them opened their mouth.

Eventually, Audrey knew she didn't have a choice. They couldn't stay like that forever, and the Gull was pretty much closing. She was used to being here after hours, but it was time to go.

Nathan sensed it too. He felt like he was more in tune to the shifts in his partner's mood lately. He felt like he should be better able to fix things between them then. _What the hell_, he thought. _I really can't make it too much worse._ "Can we talk?" he asked, dreading her response.

Maybe it was the beer, but Audrey didn't feel like fighting with him. "Sure," she said. "But not here. Can we go upstairs? You really shouldn't be driving anyway, regardless of what you told Duke."

Nathan nodded. "I can crash on your couch, if that's alright. If not, I can call a cab."

"Couch is fine," Audrey said, tiredly_. Were they so far gone that he felt like he couldn't sleep on her couch? _

They walked out the back door and up the stairs, still not saying anything. Audrey opened the door to her apartment, went inside and flipped on the light. She assumed that Nathan was right behind her, but when she turned around, he was hovering just inside the door.

"What?" she said, exasperated.

"I'm just afraid, whatever I say or do, we're going to end up fighting," he said tiredly. When she didn't immediately respond, he walked over to her couch and sat down. "Maybe it would be for the best if I just got a little sleep and went home."

"Fine," Audrey said. She wasn't going to pull anything out of him right now. She actually wanted to shake him, violently. Instead, she walked away, into the bathroom. When she came out, he was stretched out on her couch, eyes closed. She doubted he was asleep, but she didn't feel like calling his bluff. She continued to get ready for bed, changing into an old tank top and comfy flannel pants.

Nathan listened to her movements from the couch. Now that he was here, he didn't know what to say. How did he tell her that she was his everything? He was never any good at this kind of thing. She knew how he felt. He was hoping she would say something, anything, that he could respond to. He had the feeling that whatever was said next, would either fix everything or damn them forever.

But she didn't say anything. She turned off the lights and climbed into bed. They lay there like that, each awake and waiting for the other until they both drifted off.


	6. Chapter 6 - Nightmare

**A/N: **I am loving the positive feedback, thank you so much. I really like writing this story, it feels like it is almost writing itself.

When we were last with Audrey and Nathan, they were not much closer to finding the kidnapper, and they weren't much closer to fixing their own issues.

* * *

Nathan was lying on the wet grass, but he couldn't feel it. He was on the hill and he was all alone. Duke and Audrey were gone. He knew he was shot, but he didn't feel that either. He was detached as he watched the blood stain spread across his chest, like it was something that was happening to someone else. The sky was burning, the trees were burning, and he was alone. The weight was horrible, he felt like he couldn't breathe, pressure was weighing him down. Suddenly, he saw her face, tears running down her cheeks. She was out of his reach, the pressure weighing him down was too much, he couldn't move. She started to fade away, and he held out his hand to her, trying to grasp her, hold her there, but he lost her again. He started to sob, the despair taking him down father, farther, farther…

"Nathan," Audrey was saying urgently, shaking him.

In his dream haze, he didn't realize that Audrey was really in front of him, he reached out for her like he did in his nightmare, and when his skin blazed to life at the contact, he gasped. He grabbed hold of her like a drowning man, crushed her to him tightly, like he was afraid she would float away again. He continued to sob.

Audrey had woken up to the sound of Nathan moaning in his sleep. She couldn't understand what he was saying, but when he started crying, her heart broke for him. She couldn't bear to let him keep going in whatever dream was upsetting him so much, so she got out of bed and knelt down on the floor by the couch, trying to shake him awake.

When he had finally started to come out of the dream, she found herself tightly wrapped in his arms, unable to move. She could feel the pain and despair he was experiencing. She knew he had so much pain and guilt inside, but she really hadn't understood until now. She shifted her weight a little to try and get her arms around him, wanting to reassure him, but when she tried to move, he held her even tighter.

"Nathan," she whispered. "It's okay, I'm here. I won't go anywhere, please."

He started to calm at the sound of her voice, so she continued speaking, saying the first things that came to her mind. "It's alright, you're not alone. I won't leave you." He loosened his grip and she was able to get a hand free. She started caressing the side of his face, the part she could reach by his hairline. He took a sudden, deep breath at her touch and picked up his head. He seemed to come back to himself a little, becoming more aware of his surroundings.

The apartment was dark, the only light was the moonlight streaming in from the windows. Her face seemed illuminated by an otherworldly glow, like an angel that he couldn't hope to hold. Except, she was in his arms. He remembered the dream, the sense of loss and loneliness and looked at his angel.

"Nathan," she said. "Please, tell me what is going on. What did you dream?"

She shifted her weight again, and he suddenly realized that she couldn't be comfortable. He immediately relaxed his grip and she sighed as she came to sit next to him on the couch. He was mostly leaning over the edge of the couch, so he righted himself, and since he was reluctant to break contact, he reached out and took her hand. A small part of him was still in the dream mentality, and thought she'd float away if he wasn't touching her. Another part of him, not so small this time, was glad when she didn't pull away from him. It was like she knew he needed her right now.

Audrey watched as Nathan struggled to shake off the grip of the dream. She knew it had to be something so horrible, his face said it all. Any earlier irritation melted away as she looked at this man that she loved, so raw and vulnerable, sitting next to her. She wanted to make all his pain go away, erase the damage of the last few months.

"It was a dream I have had before," he began. "It started the night you left and the barn imploded. I was alone on the hill…" he trailed off.

"Where the barn was?" Audrey asked. She could see him outlined in the moonlight, the surreal glow adding to the melancholy of his words.

"Yes," he replied. He continued, his voice low and soft. "I am laying there, shot, but I can't feel it. I am all alone, and I know I killed you and Duke. Suddenly, you are there, and I try to reach out and hold onto you, but you slip out of my fingers, I try and call out to you, but I can only watch you fade away, and the weight of it all holds me down. I feel like I am falling down, down and away into nothing." He paused. "I always wake up crying."

She knew how hard it was for him to tell her all of that, her stoic Nathan. "You have this dream a lot?" she asked softly.

"Almost every night that you were gone," he admitted. "It had stopped when Duke came back with Jennifer, but I think that's because I became so focused on finding you, I didn't have time to think about it."

"It? The dream?" she wondered out loud.

"No," he said. "My guilt. For months, I thought I killed you, I wasn't sure, but part of me thought I had killed you, James and Duke. The Troubles were worse, The Guard was after me and all of it was my fault."

"When did you start having the dream again?" Audrey asked.

"A couple of nights ago," he answered. "When I got you back, and then you weren't you, I felt so lost and helpless. I wanted the real you back so badly…"

Audrey moved closer, instinctually knowing that he needed the closeness. He hung on to her, emotionally and physically. "I'm sorry my lying to you hurt you so much," she said. "It was the only way I could think to protect you."

"I know," Nathan admitted. "It must have been pretty shocking to wake up in that field, see me and everyone all around. The vibe wasn't exactly friendly."

"No, it wasn't," she laughed a little. "It was really disorientating, though. I was Lexie and Audrey at the same time, I felt like I walked out of a thickness, like a fog, and it was clouding my mind. Then," she stopped.

"Then what?" Nathan prompted.

Audrey was grateful that in this lighting, he couldn't see her blushing. "You kissed me." She paused before she continued. "I felt it deep in my soul, you calling to me, making me really remember who I was. The door that Jennifer opened bought my body back, but that kiss bought _me_ back."

"And then I started talking and ruined everything," he joked.

Audrey was glad to see that he was calming down, able to joke a little with her. "Yes," she replied. "As usual."

Nathan was glad for the first time that he had this reoccurring nightmare. If it was what got them talking again, talking in this easy way that he thought was forever lost to them, then he would have that nightmare every night for the rest of his life. He wanted to keep this moment with her forever. They were sitting side by side, holding hands, really connecting and being honest. What was going to happen in the morning, with the bright light of day streaming in?

Audrey was also wishing that they could fix and solve everything here, but that was the crux of it all. Her killing him was not an issue that she was willing to budge on. Unless he changed his mind, she didn't see any resolution for them.

But then, Nathan realized how he felt. He wanted to keep this moment _forever_. Not just until he talked her into killing him, but _forever._ _Could they find a way?_ he wondered. "Audrey?" he began.

"Yes?" she answered.

"You really think that there is another way to fix everything I screwed up?" he asked.

She sat up straighter. This was what she had wanted, open and honest conversation about possibilities. "Yes, I do. We have dealt with some pretty impossible things, and we have managed to find a way through it, every time. This is just another one of those times." She took a deep breath and continued. "When I stepped into that barn, I was prepared to lose everything. I was prepared to accept that I wouldn't see you for twenty seven years, and when I did, I wouldn't know who you were. But now, things are different."

"Yes," Nathan nodded. "They are worse."

"No," she disagreed. "Well, they are, but that isn't what I was talking about. I was referring to me, how _I_ am different. I know I have a little Lexie in me, and she doesn't take any crap. I find I don't want to give up anymore. I gave up six months ago. I felt like I had no choice. I pushed you away, I just gave up. I am not willing to do that again. For whatever reason, however it came about, we have a second chance. I don't want to give it up. There _has_ to be another way."

Nathan considered what she had said. He considered his response. "I don't want to give up either. I just didn't see any other choice."

"I know," she said, getting more animated. "That's how I felt. I stopped looking."

"And now, you think there is more we can try, more we can do," he stated. "Alright, I'll stop asking you to kill me. But, I have something I want to say."

She nodded, hopeful that he was finally going to see things her way.

"I will accept that there is more we can try. I hate that people have been hurt because of my selfish choices," he said. "I want to know, if we try everything we can think of, or people are dying because of me, will you at least talk to me about it, I mean _really_ consider it as an option?"

Audrey sighed. It was a start, she supposed. "I don't think there will be a time where I feel like we are out of options. But," she continued. "If you promise to let go of this, I will let you know, I really mean it, when I think it may be a choice."

Nathan allowed himself to be happy for a moment. They were talking, they were compromising and they were still holding hands. The little electric shocks that were going up the palm of his hand into his wrist were amazing. "I'll let go. I'll stop bringing it up, I'll stop actively trying to convince you to kill me."

Audrey was suddenly drained. It was so late that it was almost early. They still had a missing girl to find, and that this rate she was going one hell of a headache when she woke up. She knew that he couldn't let her go, he was afraid of the nightmare. "Do you think you could sleep if I stayed with you?" she asked.

"I don't want you to be uncomfortable," he said doubtfully. "The couch is great, but not for both of us."

"I wasn't thinking the couch," she said. "I want to make sure you get some rest, peaceful sleep."

Audrey stood up, still holding Nathan's hand. She pulled on his hand gently and he stood up, too. She climbed into her bed, and scooted over to the far side, still pulling Nathan along behind her. He climbed in, a little awkwardly, but still, neither of them was willing to end their contact. Nathan laid flat on his back, and Audrey laid her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating, racing, actually. She smiled and closed her eyes.

Nathan was vibrating inside. There was enough skin to skin contact that he was just humming with feeling. This wasn't about physical needs though. This was about intimacy of a different kind. He wrapped his arm around her, drawing her even closer to his side. He tipped his head slightly, feeling her hair against his cheek. The last thing he remembered before drifting off to sleep was feeling her hair tickle his nose.


	7. Chapter 7 - The List

**A/N: **Recap - Nathan had confessed to a lot after he had a nightmare. Audrey comforted him and they ended up sleeping in the same bed for comfort. Now, it is morning, will things go back to the way they were?

**A/N 2: **Fixed a mistake on the date Sara was found wandering.

* * *

Nathan was awake before the sun started streaming in the windows. He was awake before any birds could sing outside. He was awake well before Audrey was. He lay there in the lightening room and wondered about the peace he felt inside. Would it last? Somewhere in the night, they had shifted positions, and Audrey was curled up on her side, facing away from him. He was turned, resting against her back, with one arm under her neck and the other draped over her hips. She had taken his arm in hers, and it was tucked against her stomach. He listened to and felt the gentle rise and fall of her breathing, deep and rhythmic.

There was no way he was going to shift his weight, go to the bathroom, or give any indication that he was awake. He knew how tired she had been, and they had been up pretty late. He thought back to their recent conversation. It seemed like there was more to talk about, the logistics of the situation, staying Lexie to buy time with the Guard, and simultaneously looking for answers.

Part of him wished he was still sleeping, these few hours were the most restful he had in the past few months. He just couldn't, however. Every stretch or move she made resounded within him, the current of their skin touching just electric. He didn't know if he could ever get used to having that sensation returned to him. He closed his eyes, but that only made it more intense. Her bare leg was moving slightly in her sleep, and even though he was still in his clothes from the evening before, he had taken off his shirt and socks. Her foot was rubbing against his ankle, and until now, he had never realized how sensual an ankle could be.

He had missed her so much, but just those words weren't really enough to accurately describe the sense of loss he had felt. He had come to rely on her insights on the job, her ability to help the Troubled and see situations for what they really were. On a more personal note, he had really just come to rely on _her_, her presence in his daily life, her bad jokes, her ability to make him feel normal, the way her skin looked like silk in the sun, the way light hit her golden hair.

Suddenly, she murmured something he couldn't quite make out and she turned a little towards him. Her hands reached out in her sleep, searching for him. He cradled her in his arms and she sighed. He froze, afraid that his movement had woken her up, but she settled back into sleep, her breathing returning to that slow, deep cadence. He was determined to lay there as long as they could, unwilling to let the real world intrude.

* * *

Audrey felt the sun on her face and the weight of Nathan's arms around her. She didn't know what time it was, but she was sure it was probably later than she would want to be getting her day started. It was so peaceful, waking up in his arms. She felt more capable of taking on the day when she woke up like this. She had waited so long to be here, in this place, in this situation.

She sensed that Nathan was awake. "Hi," she said cautiously.

She heard, rather than saw, the smile in is voice, "Hi."

"Did you sleep better?" she asked, worried about his nightmare from the night before.

"The best I have in a long time," he reassured her.

"I am not too eager to get up, but I _am_ hungry," Audrey said apologetically.

"Well, there is only one thing that could make this morning more perfect," he replied.

Audrey sat up a little so she could look at his face, "If you say pancakes…"

"Hey," he said, faking an injured tone. "I am in bed with a beautiful woman and you are worried I'd ask for _pancakes_?"

Audrey laughed. This is how it used to be, easy and relaxed between them. She sat the rest of the way up and looked at him. "I think we need to set some ground rules."

Nathan felt the loss of her touch acutely. The empty sensation was almost painful after so many hours. He gave his head a little shake and focused on her words.

"I like this," she started. "I don't like how things had been before."

"I agree," Nathan nodded. "We need to talk more, but for now I'd say the basics are that you have to keep pretending to be Lexie to buy us time to find another solution, and I will stop wanting to die."

"Talk about nutshells," Audrey smiled. "But you are right. I will keep up the Lexie act, but you have to promise me that you understand all the things I am saying are just part of the show."

"I can do that," Nathan agreed. "One thing, though."

Audrey cocked her head slightly to the side. "What?"

"If you are going to act like Lexie, are you going to keep enjoying her wardrobe?" he asked.

Audrey didn't see where he was going with this. "I know the whole bartender getup isn't the most practical when we are going to be chasing down a kidnapper, but I think I should, sorry."

Nathan gave her a slightly suggestive look, "It's okay, I don't mind _some_ of her clothes."

Audrey threw a pillow at him, laughing. He ducked and smiled.

They got up and quickly got ready to head back to the station. They needed a new game plan, and they had to let Dwight know that their cases were connected. Last night, Nathan had arranged for a sketch artist to see Sara this morning for a description of her kidnapper. He also wanted to go over his father's old case files on her abduction.

"We should talk to Vince and Dave," Audrey suggested. "They would remember a lot about her kidnapping. Maybe they'd also know the man in the sketch, once we have it done."

Nathan shook his head. "I can talk to them, but I think you need to stay away. If Vince even suspects you aren't Lexie, we'd be in danger."

"He'd be just as upset to see us not working together," Audrey argued. "I can pull it off. The only reasons you found out were because I was tired of hiding it from you and we didn't have time to fool around, your life was in danger."

"Like my life wouldn't be in danger if Vince knew the truth." Nathan walked forward and took her hands in his. "But," he said. "I trust you, Parker, I always have."

"We're in this together," she said softly.

* * *

Their ride back to the station passed quickly. Audrey marveled how easy it was to be with Nathan when they were in sync. She knew she had to let Lexie come more to the foreground now, but she just wished they could stay the way they were right now.

"Remember, everything I say and do is to keep up the Lexie persona," she reminded Nathan. "But, you have to actually act like I am Lexie, no happy."

"No happy?" Nathan smiled. "Interesting. Don't worry, all I have to do is pull a piece of paper from my wallet and I'll have no trouble _pretending_ to be upset."

"Paper?" Audrey asked.

Nathan considered for a minute. "This isn't going back on my promise."

"What isn't?" asked Audrey, clearly confused.

Nathan managed to get his wallet out of his back pocket. Using one hand, he maneuvered the wallet into his lap and opened it. After watching him fumble for a minute, Audrey took it away from him.

"Eyes on the road, Wuornos," she said. "What am I looking for?"

"Folded piece of paper in the bill fold area," he replied with some emotion that Audrey couldn't readily define.

She opened the wallet, and the first thing she noticed was a small picture of her that looked like it had been handled many times. The next thing she saw was the paper that he mentioned. It was a plain sheet of notebook paper, it was creased and well worn. She carefully unfolded it, and saw that there were names written down in several different inks. It appeared to be a list, complied over several sittings, folded and refolded many times. "Whose names are these?" she asked softly.

Nathan didn't answer for a moment. When he did, it was obvious that he was trying to keep the emotion in his voice steady. "Seventeen names, seventeen lives, seventeen deaths. These are the people that have died from the Troubles since I shot Howard."

Audrey didn't know what to say. She held the list in her hands, and she could envision him recording these names, looking at the list, knowing he carried it everywhere. "Oh, Nathan," she said.

"I'm happy you are back," he began. "I'm happy that I got to sleep with you in my arms last night. I'm happy that you are you, and not Lexie. But there won't be a minute that goes by where I don't think about those names. You won't have to worry about me blowing our cover."

She held the list in her hands, thinking for a minute. "My whole time in Haven has felt pre-destined," she said thoughtfully. "I have been a pawn, whose pawn we don't really understand. If you believe that everything happens for a reason, then maybe this is the way things are supposed to be."

"What?" Nathan asked. "I thought you hated the idea of not being in charge of your own future."

"I do, but consider this," she said. "Maybe it was time to disrupt the cycle. Twenty seven years of peace. How would you feel about your children growing up to live through the same hell that you did. Maybe this had to happen to end the Troubles once and for all. Maybe the solution we find will be the end of this."

Nathan considered her words. What if there was truly only one 'end' to this? "Then why did you go into the barn if you felt that way?"

"I ran out of time," she admitted. "And I ran out of hope. It was so hard to learn what I was, learn the pattern of events that was supposed to happen. I just didn't have enough time to figure it all out."

Nathan pulled into the station's parking lot. He turned off the ignition and turned to look at her. He wanted to believe she was right, that they were in for a happy ending. He just didn't know. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it is better to find an end to this. With no barn and meteor storm to set a ticking clock, maybe we can figure it out."

Audrey folded up his paper and handed it and his wallet back to him. He took them and carefully returned the paper to where it belonged. "Let's go find a missing girl, partner."

* * *

Once inside the station, they noticed a lot of activity centered around the search for Molly Primrose. They went to see Dwight in his office.

"Chief," Nathan addressed him, as they walked into the room.

"Nathan, Lexie," Dwight welcomed them. "What's up with the blinding Trouble?"

"We have that figured out," Nathan began. When Dwight sat up a little taller in his chair, Nathan continued. "It's Sara Heron."

"Sara Heron? The girl they found in '83?" Dwight asked.

"Yeah, she was, like, traumatized," Audrey said, channeling Lexie's way of speaking.

Dwight looked at Nathan for answers. "Explain."

Nathan moved closer and sat down. "She didn't know she was Troubled, but her mother suspected she could be since her father was. But, he died when she was little. All she knew about his Trouble was that it had something to do with reliving or sharing a thing that he was afraid of."

"Sara was afraid of her kidnapping," Audrey added.

Nathan looked at Audrey, irritated. "Anyway," he continued, "she has never remembered that much from when she was taken. But, she saw the man who took her on the street the other day and it triggered her Trouble. After that, anyone she came into physical contact with when she was upset ended up reliving her nightmare of being locked up in a small, dark room."

"They couldn't see," Audrey drawled. "Just like she couldn't."

"But their sight came back?" Dwight asked.

Nathan nodded, "When she calms down, the Trouble's effect fades."

"Where is she now?" Dwight sighed.

"At home, with her mama, not touchin' people," Audrey answered.

"She can't stay in her house forever, maybe I'll have to let the Guard relocate her," Dwight said, obviously not liking the idea.

"I don't think so," Nathan disagreed. "She is positive that Molly was kidnapped by the same man. What if she is right? If we find Molly and catch him, she shouldn't be so afraid anymore."

"Yep," Audrey chimed in.

Dwight seemed to consider this. "So, do _you_ think that they two kidnappings are related?"

"We don't get many kidnappings in Haven, other than custody disputes," Nathan responded. "I do think it is odd that Sara sees her kidnapper after so much time, and it is the day another girl goes missing."

"And," Audrey interjected, "I heard some of the other cops talkin' when we were looking for her before. They said she's eleven, and she has light brown hair and blue eyes. Wasn't that about the same age Sara was?"

Dwight looked at her questioningly.

"What?" she asked. "We looked stuff up last night. Anyway, when we talked to her, I noticed she has blue eyes and brown hair. Don't these perverts have a type they like?"

Dwight considered this. "Yeah, they do, but then where has he been all this time, and why couldn't we find him before?"

Nathan gave a slight shrug. "Was a long time ago. But, it is a good chance I think. Worst case, the two aren't connected, we still have to find Molly. Sara is contained for now, I say we concentrate on Molly."

"Okay," Dwight said, convinced. "We need to know what the man looked like that Sara saw on the street."

"Already ahead of you, honey," Audrey said. "Wuornos sent a sketch guy to her house this morning."

"Ok, work the kidnapping angle from the direction Sara is taking you in and we'll see what happens," Dwight said.

They left his office and went into their own. Nathan closed the door and turned to look at his partner. "Honey? Sketch guy?"

Audrey smiled, standing with one hip slightly jutted out, a very Lexie pose. "I warned you Wuornos."


	8. Chapter 8 - Running is Bad Guy

**A/N: **Edit - fixed an error in Sara's age here.

* * *

Nathan had dug out his father's old case file and they were going over it in their office. "It seems that there wasn't too much to go on back then," Audrey commented.

"Yeah, the Chief canvased pretty exhaustively, but nothing really came of it," Nathan agreed. "Seems weird, no one really remembered or saw anything."

"Ok," Audrey said. "Sara was found by a jogger, walking down the street. She was barefoot and in different clothes than she was taken in."

"Means he got her clothes, maybe dressed her?" Nathan asked.

"Well, she was nine, and gone for quite a few months. She probably grew out of her clothes," Audrey surmised. "But the shoes, he probably didn't see it necessary."

"If that's right, then he wasn't planning on letting her go," Nathan added.

"She said she tried the door handle because she was hungry. She remembered that she hadn't eaten in a while," Audrey said, thoughtfully. "Did he leave her there and just take off? What scared him, or what prevented him from coming back?"

Nathan looked up from the file, "And what made him come back?"

"I still think we should talk to Vince and Dave," Audrey said.

"Ok, _Lexie_," Nathan smiled. "Let's do it, but be careful."

Audrey snapped her gum, "Honey, nothin' to worry about."

* * *

It didn't take them long to reach the Herald. The brothers were inside, both in the back, when Nathan and Audrey walked in. They looked surprised to see them, but Dave at least, looked pleased.

"Lexie, Nathan," he said. "How can we help you?"

Vince stood slightly off to the side, watching them carefully. Audrey felt like an insect under a magnifying glass.

Nathan moved closer. "We are looking into the Molly Primrose kidnapping. It looks like she could be connected to Sara Heron."

"Poor girl, that Sara" Dave said sadly. "Connected how?"

"We think it could be the same man that took them both," Nathan said.

Vince spoke up from where he was standing. "That seems a stretch, what makes you think so?"

Nathan continued to take point, explaining the conversation they had with Sara, her Trouble activating, and Audrey was content to stand there, twirling her hair like Lexie and adopt a slightly bored expression.

The brothers looked at each other a moment. Dave spoke first. "It makes sense. What do you want from us?"

"What do you remember from her kidnapping?" Nathan asked. "Did your investigation for the Herald turn up anything?"

"If it did, I'm sure we would have turned it over to your father," Vince said. "Why are you really here?"

"Honestly, we are just wanting to know what you know," Nathan said. "And for once, I am hoping you actually tell me. You always know more than you say, and there is a little girl in danger."

"I don't like bad guys," Audrey said, pointedly. "I deal with lowlife jackasses in the bar all the time, but I can handle them, an eleven year old can't. So, Wuornos here said you know stuff. So?"

"Your father's notes should tell you that they tracked Sara back from where she was being held. It was the old Warren house," Dave said.

"Yes, I know this," Nathan said, impatiently.

"Well, it was bought and sold several times since Sara was found. No one stayed in it for long. The Warrens had a lot of relatives in Haven, but people had a hard time keeping track of them," Vince told them.

"By people, you mean you and the Guard?" Nathan asked. "Are the Warrens Troubled?"

Vince nodded. "We thought so. You tend to forget interactions with them. Not like you really forget, just like it was a dream that's hard to hold on to."

"Would be handy for a bad guy to be forgettable," Audrey said.

"But last I heard," Dave interjected. "Most of the Warrens are either dead or moved away. There might be a cousin or two hanging around, though."

"The Chief would have run all this down over twenty five years ago," Nathan said, doubtfully.

"My point is that you said Sara saw him on the street," Vince said. "Are you getting a sketch? Maybe we could recognize him."

"Happening as we speak," Nathan said. "Who lives in the Warren house now?"

"Someone who wouldn't object to you looking around," Vince said. "I'll let him know you are coming."

"Friend of yours?" Audrey said, still snapping her gum.

"An associate," Vince confirmed.

"So, Guard," Nathan stated. "Fine, I don't care. Once we have the sketch, we'll bring it over and see if you recognize it. Anything else you can think of?"

"You might want to check with Duke," Dave offered.

"Duke?" Nathan asked. "What would he know? He was just a kid back then."

"But the Crockers have been friends with the Warrens for a few generations," Dave said. "Maybe he remembers something about the family. They also were 'exporters'."

* * *

Nathan and Audrey were driving to the old Warren house. "What do you think of their 'information'?" Nathan asked, referring to the Teagues.

"I think the most helpful they might be is if the recognize the picture, if they are honest about it," Audrey said.

"Hmm," Nathan replied. "I think they will, at least I would like to think that they are concerned for Molly. And," he continued, "what was that about sending us to Duke?"

"Maybe he does know something, or stories he heard from his father," Audrey said, hopefully.

They arrived at the house. On the outside, it didn't look threatening. It was two stories, small yard with a fence. They walked up to the front door and were greeted by a man, pleasant enough, but Audrey saw the edges of a tattoo peeking out from under his shirt sleeve.

Inside, the house was obviously lived in by a single man. Clean enough, but very little in the way of decorations. Audrey was interested in the room under the staircase where Sara remembered living. They found it, and opened the little door.

Audrey was horrified. The room couldn't be any bigger than a few feet in area. The ceiling went up, giving a false impression of space. There were boxes in the space now, but Audrey could see a tiny set of pillows being lined along one side. She could almost feel the sadness and loneliness in this room. She had seen enough.

Nathan followed her outside, wanting to make sure she was okay. She was always so strong on the surface, but he knew she was so fragile under it all, she felt everyone else's suffering so acutely.

Just as he caught up with her, she took off running across the street, yelling for him. Bewildered, but without questioning his partner, he ran after her.

After a few seconds, he saw what she was chasing. There was an older man on the street ahead of her, running for all he was worth. Nathan wasn't sure why they were chasing him, but he was sure Audrey had a reason.

Audrey had seen the man watching the house from a little ways across the street. There was something that drew her attention to him, but she wasn't sure what. When she started to walk in his direction, the man turned and ran. Audrey gave chase, wondering if this wasn't Sara's kidnapper. Why else would he be there and why else would he have run?

Audrey lost sight of him around a corner. Cursing Lexie's impractical wardrobe, she slowed down and motioned for Nathan to keep going. "Bad guy," she managed to call to him as she pointed to the direction she had seen him go.

Nathan came back in a few minutes, having lost him. Shaking his head, he asked "What was that about?"

They started walking back to the old Warren house, and Audrey explained on the way. "I saw him watching the house when I came outside. There was something about him that got my attention, so I started to walk towards him. As soon as I did, he ran."

"Running away for no reason, equals bad guy." Nathan said.

"Right," Audrey agreed. "He was older, about the right age range for Sara's kidnapper. Let's see if we have that sketch yet."

They drove back to the station. Audrey was wondering about the possible Trouble they were dealing with. The timeline seemed off to her. Sara was found after Lucy went into the barn, so the Troubles were over. But, it was just after the Troubles ended, so maybe that is why no one remembered anything from her kidnapping. Sara was different somehow. She remembered her kidnapper, at least enough to recognize him on the street. When she was found, however, she said she couldn't remember anything, not even her own name.

"What do you think about how everyone's memory is messed up with these kidnappings?" Audrey asked Nathan.

He considered her question, still looking at the road ahead. "I was thinking about that too. Like how come Sara remembers him when no one else does."

"Right," Audrey agreed. "But she didn't remember anything at first."

"What if her remembering has something to do with the nature of her Trouble?" he said. "Reliving her worst nightmare over and over might just sear details into the mind. And, maybe she didn't remember anything when she was found from the regular, ordinary, Trouble free, trauma of the situation?"

"She blocked it out, and started to remember as time went by," Audrey agreed. "The mind does things like that to protect itself. And when the Troubles came back this time, she started remembering more."

"So, we thought her Trouble activated when she saw her kidnapper on the street, maybe it started sooner?" Nathan wondered.

"Either way, I bet it is a safe guess that a Warren is involved somehow. Maybe we should check in with Duke?" she asked. "See if he really does know anything about them?"

"Let's check on the sketch first, bring it with us," Nathan responded.


	9. Chapter 9 - Why Am I Here?

Audrey called Duke as they were driving to the cabin. He was going to meet them there, taking a small boat to try and cover the water angle. Audrey was tense, she felt like they were on the edge of the situation, like something was going to go wrong. Nathan sensed her unease and wasn't too sure how to calm her mind.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I just have this nagging feeling that we're missing something, or that we aren't as prepared as we think we are," Audrey explained. "I don't want Molly to have to stay with Branson another day, we have to find her."

"We will," Nathan assured her. "We know where he is, and we have Duke covering the back. You know," he continued. "It is so weird to admit that he has become the one person I trust most, after you, of course."

"I think that there was so much history between you when I first came to Haven, that it was hard to see past that," Audrey said. "You both have changed, I'm glad you can see him differently now."

Nathan considered that for a minute. "You know, I think it is you that changed both of us."

They finished driving to the cabin, parking a little away so they didn't alert Branson. After a text or two making sure that Duke was in place and ready to go, they got out of the car quietly and started creeping toward the house.

It was a little cabin, just a few hundred yards from the edge of the water. The windows were curtained, allowing no sightline to the interior. The yard surrounding the cabin was sparse, a few poorly maintained, low lying shrubs and not much else. Once they started past the tree line, there would be no cover. Branson was most likely present, an old beat up blue sedan was parked in front of the house.

Nathan and Audrey changed their approach to come up from behind the vehicle, using it as cover. Once they reached it, they paused, listening for motion, or evidence that they had been seen by Branson. After nothing happened, Nathan signaled that she would go around the back and he would go up the front stairs. Audrey nodded and positioned herself. They were concerned that Branson would hurt Molly, so they were planning on taking him by surprise.

Nathan waited a minute to let Audrey reach the back of the house before he crept up the stairs. As gingerly as he placed her feet, there was still some minor creaking as he went up the small flight of four stairs. Going for it now, Nathan quickly covered the last few feet to the door and kicked in the old wood.

The door gave way almost immediately and Nathan found himself inside a dark, dingy and tiny living room. He heard movement from the back of the house, and without hesitation, he ran in that direction. He saw Audrey coming at him from the rear entrance, and they both stopped confused.

They looked around quickly, and determined that no one was in the immediate area. Together, they closed the back door and searched each room. The room off of the back door was the kitchen, and there wasn't so much as a closet that anyone could hide in. Guns drawn, Nathan and Audrey were alert to any sound as they made their way back to the living room.

As they neared the front door and prepared to look into the room to the left, there was the sound of a struggle behind them. They quickly whipped around to see an older man that matched Sara's sketch, holding a little girl. She was silent, but struggling against his hold. He looked up at them and paused a moment before running to the kitchen.

Audrey started to run after Branson, and realized that Nathan wasn't following her. She turned to look at him and in that second, Branson got the back door open and ran out.

"Nathan!" Audrey yelled.

He looked at her, a little dazed, but she couldn't wait to see if he was alright. She ran as fast as she could after Branson and Molly. Flying down the back steps, she saw him running through the trees towards the water.

_Duke _Audrey plaintively thought. _Be there!_ Within seconds, she was through the trees and almost tripped over a small body on the ground.

"Molly?!" Audrey called. The little girl turned and shook herself, like she was very tired. Audrey scooped her up and checked her over to see if she was hurt.

She had a few little scrapes and bruises, but otherwise looked unharmed. Audrey was torn, and she knew she was losing precious seconds with her indecision. Molly had to come first, she could only hope that Duke would be able to stop him.

She spun, gun drawn, when she heard noise behind her. It was Nathan, looking confused, but ready to figure it out.

"Go!" Audrey urged. She pointed in the direction that Branson had taken, and without further prompting, Nathan ran.

Audrey sat on a fallen tree nearby and sat Molly up on her lap. "Hi Molly," she said. "I'm Lexie, I'm with the police. I'm here to take you back to your mom and dad. Are you okay?"

The little girl nodded slowly, her eyes big and wide.

Audrey had so many questions, but she didn't want to traumatize her further by asking the wrong things. They just had to get her back to Haven. She pulled the little girl closer, and she wrapped her arms around Audrey's neck.

They sat there for a minute when Audrey heard the sounds of someone coming towards them. Molly tightened her grip and Audrey stood up, readying her grip on her gun. The sounds got closer.

"Parker!" Nathan called. "It's us, Duke and me."

Audrey relaxed slightly, and then the men came through the trees towards where she and Molly were. "Molly, these are my friends," she said. "They came to help me get you home, okay?" Molly relaxed her grip on Audrey's neck a little, looking around at Nathan and Duke, not quite trusting them.

"What happened?" Audrey demanded.

"We lost him," Nathan said, irritated.

"Lost him? How?" Audrey insisted.

"Hey, guys," Duke cut in. "How about we talk about this in town, in case he circles around and comes back?"

Nathan looked at Audrey, who nodded.

They carefully walked back towards the cabin, with Nathan calling Laverne to tell her that they had found Molly. He requested additional officers to come up to the cabin to canvas the area and investigate the house. He also told Laverne that the suspect was Philip Branson and that he had gotten away from them in a small power boat.

Audrey looked over at Duke at that, raising an eyebrow. He shrugged and opened the rear car door for her and Molly. He had assumed she would need the room because Molly didn't seem like she was letting go of Audrey.

Audrey climbed into the back, a little awkwardly, and settled in with Molly. Duke took the front seat and the three of them waited a minute or two longer for Nathan to get in the driver's seat after he hung up with Laverne.

The men talked in low voices in the front while Audrey held Molly in the back. She was sure that Laverne would call Molly's parents and they would meet them at the hospital. They needed to talk to Molly, but they also needed to make sure that she was physically alright first, the mentally alright would take longer.

Nathan pulled up to the emergency entrance of the hospital, and Molly's parents were outside. Her father was standing there, barely moving, like he was afraid to believe she was safe. Molly's mother was pacing back and forth, crying. As soon as they both saw the sedan, they ran forward so quickly, Nathan had to be careful not to hit them.

"Molly!" Mrs. Primrose shouted.

Molly looked up from where she had been dozing on Audrey's chest. At the sound of her mother's voice, Molly became more animated and pulled away from Audrey. Duke jumped out of the car and opened the rear door, allowing Molly to rush out and into her mother's arms. Mother and child clung to each other, both crying. Molly's father came forward and enveloped both girls in his arms.

The Primrose family stood there for a minute or two until Nathan cleared his throat. "We need to get Molly inside, Mr. and Mrs. Primrose," he said. "We have to get her checked out by a doctor. You can stay with her, though."

Mr. Primrose nodded, and relaxing one of his arms, he turned and steered his wife and daughter into the emergency room doors. There were two uniformed officers waiting on the side. Nathan walked up to them and gave them instructions to stay with the Primroses.

"I want to get back to the cabin, look for clues for where Branson might go," Audrey said. "But we need to talk to Molly, see what she remembers."

"I have a feeling it won't be much," Duke said regretfully.

"Hey," Audrey remembered. "What happened up there?"

Duke and Nathan looked at each other. Nathan cleared his throat. "I can only think it was Branson's Trouble. When we were in the living room, I remember seeing him vaguely with Molly, and then I had a feeling like I couldn't remember why I was in that room," he said. "You ran away from me, and even though I felt like it was something I needed to remember, I just couldn't. I heard you call to me, but it took a few minutes for me to snap out of it. I still didn't remember why I was there, but I knew at least that I had to follow you."

Audrey turned to face Duke. "How did he get the boat?"

"Pretty much the same thing," Duke admitted. "I saw him and jumped out. He was in the trees and then I had the same feeling of not quite remembering what I was doing. I heard the boat start up behind me and ran that way, feeling like something was wrong."

"That's when I came up," Nathan added. "I found Duke in the woods and then we realized something was wrong and came back to find you. How are we going to deal with his Trouble?"

"It doesn't seem like Chris Brody's Trouble, where you could avoid it if you didn't look directly at him," Audrey mused. "I don't know right now."

"Well, we need to put our heads together," Duke said. "We can't leave him out here, running around Molly would never feel safe."

"Neither would Sara, and she'd have to spend the rest of her life avoiding contact with people," Audrey said.

Nathan squared his jaw. "Then it's settled. We find Branson and stop this," he said, determined.


	10. Chapter 10 - Tiny

Duke, Nathan and Audrey drove back to the cabin. Several other uniformed officers were also on the scene. Audrey spotted Dwight coming out from the inside, he saw them and came directly over. Audrey hung back a little, nodding to Nathan to take the lead.

"I'm glad you found Molly," Dwight began. "What led you up here, and what happened?"

"We got the ID from Dave," Nathan explained. "Philip Branson. That led us here, the Warren family is mostly gone, but Branson is a Warren on his mother's side. We thought this would make a good place to take Molly."

Dwight nodded, "Secluded, quiet. How did he get away?"

"He's Troubled," Nathan started to say, but Dwight interrupted him.

"You forget him?" he asked. "Had some tangles with a few of his relatives."

Nathan sighed. "Yeah, and we did. Forgot why we were in the room, except Lexie." He motioned in her direction.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I saw him with Molly and chased him. He dropped Molly and I had to stay with her, that's how come he got away."

"No," Duke disagreed. "He got away because Nathan and I were worthless after he got too close to us."

Dwight turned to look at Duke. "You're here, why?"

"I called him," Nathan interjected. "It's hard to always get backup that can handle a Troubled situation."

Dwight seemed to accept this. He turned back to the cabin, motioning for the three of them to follow. "It looks like he was keeping her in a small storage room. It didn't have any lights or windows. There wasn't a bed, but some pillows stacked up along one side of the room." He stopped at the front door. "Guys, it is tiny," he said sadly.

The four of them went into the living room, and Dwight took a few steps toward the kitchen in the back, stopping just before the doorway. He opened a door to the right, a door that Audrey and Nathan hadn't noticed the first time they were in the cabin. It was smaller than a standard door, and it fit almost seamlessly into the wall, without a raised frame. It was about where Audrey had seen Branson emerge with Molly. Dwight stepped aside and let them survey the scene.

Tiny wasn't the word for the size of the room. It looked slightly larger and squarer in shape than a standard closet. There was no source of light, and no source of comfort in that space. A frayed blanket was tossed over to one side, while 3-4 pillows were on the other. There was a large container that seemed to serve as a bathroom in a corner.

Audrey closed her eyes and tried to imagine what Molly felt like in this room. Her breath caught in her chest, and she had to move away.

Nathan didn't want to appear to in tune with Audrey's emotions in front of Dwight. He made a slight motion at Duke when he caught his eye. Duke immediately picked up on the signal and moved to check on Audrey.

"We'll get him," he said to her. "Bastard will pay." Duke reached out and placed his hand on her arm, trying to offer some comfort as she hugged herself.

"It took us _days _to find her," Audrey said. "_Days. _She had to be in there for days."

Duke turned so he was facing her completely. "Hey, Sara was in the other house for _months. _You and Nathan did what no one was able to back then. You found Molly. She didn't come out on her own, wandering around."

Audrey didn't seem to take much comfort in his words, but she nodded. "We need to talk to Molly and see if she remembers anything."

"Finding the boat would give us a general idea of where to look for Branson, too," Nathan said as he walked over to the two of them. He noticed Duke's hands on Audrey and had a moment of possessive longing, but he shook it off. He didn't have time for that kind of thing.

Dwight joined them, "You headed back to the hospital to talk to Molly? I just got word that she is fine, she checked out great by the doctors. Seems that Branson didn't really do anything to her except keep her in the room."

Audrey finally took a deep breath. She looked up at Nathan, her eyes pained. "Let's go talk to her?"

Nathan nodded and turned to Duke. "You coming with us?"

Duke shook his head. "I think I want to put the word out for the boat Branson took off with. Some of my contacts may find it quicker." He addressed Dwight, "Sorry, Sasquatch."

"No big," Dwight shrugged. "I'm headed back to the station, I'll drop you at the Gull?"

"Thanks," Duke said. "Sounds great." He turned and looked at Audrey again. "It'll be okay. We'll figure it out." She managed a small smile for him, and he walked out the door.

Dwight passed her, also on his way out, when he stopped to say, "Don't worry Lexie." He had put a slight emphasis on the name, like he was trying to let her know he didn't really buy the act, but that it was okay with him.

Audrey and Nathan came behind them and got back into her car. She maneuvered back down the narrow road, and headed into town. The partners didn't speak much, each lost in their own thoughts about the afternoon.

Audrey was really trying to come up with a way that they could combat Branson's Trouble. She felt like she would have to corner him and take him down herself if everyone else wouldn't be able to overcome the effect he would have on them.

They reached the hospital, parked and found Molly's room. The uniformed officers were still outside where Nathan had directed them. Molly's parents were in the room with her, talking to a nurse. Nathan and Audrey waited outside respectfully until the nurse left. Molly's father saw them first and came out to the corridor to greet them.

"Thank you again for finding her," he said earnestly.

"She's okay?" Audrey asked.

Her father nodded vigorously. "We were so worried, men who take little girls…" He trailed off, upset.

Audrey reached out to comfort him. "We know. We were worried about that. I'm glad nothing like that happened to her."

"She doesn't even remember much. She is tired and very hungry," he continued. "The light also hurts her eyes, the doctor said she will be sensitive for a little while."

Nathan spoke up. "The room where she was held didn't have any source of light. She must have gotten used to the dark."

"We really need to talk to her, even if she doesn't remember a lot of details," Audrey requested.

Mr. Primrose motioned for them to follow him into the room. "Just please be gentle with your questions?"

"We will be," Audrey promised.

They talked with Molly for a little while, but she didn't have much to tell them. She didn't remember how she got to the house, and one of the first things she did remember was that the man who had kept her kept asking her not to cry. Audrey and Nathan left a short while later, and headed back to the station. They wanted to go over the Warren property holdings again, in case there was somewhere else Branson could hide.

"How do we know that he hasn't left Haven?" Nathan wondered out loud.

Audrey considered this. "I don't think he has," she admitted. "I know it just sounds like wishful thinking, but it's just a feeling I have. If we can understand why he specifically took Molly and Sara, then maybe we can start to figure out his motivations and that might lead to where he is hiding."

"Okay," Nathan agreed. "Let's go over the paperwork again."

* * *

They worked well into the evening, without finding any leads on where Branson might be hiding out. Nathan didn't want to admit it, but he didn't have his partner's confidence that Branson was still in Haven. Still, he had learned not to discount her hunches. He just wished that they could find something, _anything_, that would send them in the right direction. He looked over at Audrey, her head buried on the mountain of property files they had collected. She was obviously weary, and she felt guilty that they hadn't caught Branson yet. He walked over and rested his hand on her arm, relishing the sparks of feeling that coursed through his nerves.

"It'll be okay," he said. "It's here somewhere, we just have to find it."

Audrey shook her head. "I'm beginning to think it isn't. The answer is somewhere else. I keep thinking that we have to understand more of _why_ he took the girls to find him."

Nathan considered this. "If we can find any other Warrens or Bransons, maybe they can tell us more about him?"

Audrey jumped up, obviously excited by the idea. Then she saw the clock and realized that would have to wait until morning. "First thing, we have to track down some relatives. Maybe Dwight would have a line on some, or Vince and Dave."

* * *

They sat in the car, not saying anything. They had grabbed a quick bite to eat and now, they were sitting in the parking lot in Audrey's car. There were two ways they could go, and neither of them knew what to say.

Nathan had enjoyed the past two nights, sleeping in Audrey's bed had been the most sleep he had in months. But it wasn't just the rest, or the lack of nightmares that made it so important. It was _her_, having her back, having her so close, feeling her skin cause dancing prickles of sensation across his. He didn't want to go back to his house alone. He had this irrational fear that if he left her for the evening, he would find that by morning she had disappeared. He had to say something, tell her how much he needed her, but he couldn't put that on her, make her feel obligated.

Audrey, by contrast, was thinking of how they could ditch the inevitable Guard escort that they had following them. Part of her had accepted that they would be spending their nights together, and she was now trying to make it work logistically. She was still annoyed that she had expressed her feelings for him and that he had really not done the same. They each knew how the other felt, that was obvious in light of their current predicament, but all the same, deep down she was still a girl who wanted to hear the words.

"Well?" she said. "Which direction am I going? Am I dropping you home?"

Nathan stared straight ahead, as if afraid to look at her. "I would prefer you didn't," he said slowly. "I would _prefer_ we stayed together."

"How can we do that and shake our Guard tail?" Audrey asked.

This caused Nathan to turn and look at her, his emotions plain on his usually stoic face. "Screw the Guard. I don't care. They can't kill me, there's no point in it for them. They should be happy that I am spending time with _Lexie_," he spoke that last word with some distaste.

Audrey felt her irritation rise. She thought that they had put the issue of Lexie to rest for now. "Again, with that," she said.

Nathan realized how she had misunderstood him. "No," he said quickly. "I wasn't upset about her, or you being her, but at the need for it. I'm tired of all the crap that is getting in our way of finding a solution to this mess."

Audrey relented. She turned the key in the ignition, realizing that the two of them sitting in the diner parking lot was just as suspicious as anything else. She considered Nathan's words for a moment, then, she backed the car out of the parking space and started driving to her apartment.

They didn't speak while she drove, still didn't speak when she parked the car or walked up the stairs to her door. Nathan watched her as she opened the door and walked in. She left the door open behind her, but he hesitated just a minute before following her. He had the feeling that once he walked in that door, things were going to change between them, either for the better or the worse.


	11. Chapter 11 - Finally

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay in updating, the holiday didn't leave me much time to write. I get a little descriptive in this chapter, so have changed the rating for the piece. I didn't go too far, but I hope you enjoy anyway.

* * *

Audrey was aware that Nathan hesitated at the door, again. She wasn't offended. Instinctually, she knew it was coming from a different place than it had a couple of days ago. Part of her was nervous, too. She felt weirdly like they were on some kind of date, but the awkward, blind date, set up by a friend of a friend, kind of date. She pretended to not know that he hovered just outside the doorway for a minute before following her in, and she went over to the fridge and grabbed two beers. She was right, she definitely had more of a taste for them since her melding with Lexie. She walked over to the couch, kicked off her shoes and sat down on one side, with her legs across the rest of the cushions.

Nathan had finally followed her, also walking over to the couch. He picked up her legs, sat down and placed her feet in his lap. He rested one hand on her ankle, needing the skin on skin contact to reassure him. He reached out his other hand and motioned for Audrey to pass him the other beer.

They sat there for a minute, until Nathan spoke. "Why are you, _you_?" he asked, emphasizing the last word.

Audrey looked at him, confused. "Why am I what?"

"I've been wondering this since you came back," he said apologetically. "Why do you have your memories? Why aren't you actually Lexie?"

"William said I would cross the doorway and be the person I most wanted to be, deep down," she explained.

"How did you know you wanted to be you if you didn't know who _you_ were?" Nathan asked.

"Wow, scary thing is that I actually followed that," Audrey said, a little laugh in her voice. Then, she got a bit more serious. "I remember your voice, you called to me through the door."

Nathan looked at her, surprised. "You heard me?"

Audrey nodded slowly, "I did. There was so much emotion in your voice, so much pain, so much heartbreak. You were looking for someone, and you _needed _thatsomeone." When Nathan didn't say anything, she continued. "Just before I jumped through, I decided I wanted to be the person that was loved so much, that you were calling through time and space to find her."

Nathan took his hand off of her ankle and found her free hand. "You are," he said.

"Hmm?" Audrey asked wonderingly, distracted by recalling her escape from the barn.

"Loved," he said softly. He put his beer down on the side table, took hers from her hand, also setting it down. He turned his body so that she had her legs wrapped around his sides. He looked into her eyes, registering the emotion that was welling up in them. "You _are_ loved," he said. Audrey caught her breath, but he wasn't done. "I have loved you from almost the first moment I saw you. I think it was when we were pointing guns at each other," he smiled at the memory.

Audrey was quiet, she didn't want to interrupt him, and she desperately wanted to hear more.

"You looked at me like I was an idiot," he continued. "I told you to keep your hands where I could see them and you asked me if I thought you were going to pull out another gun."

"I remember," Audrey said quietly.

"You were funny, gave me such hell, and gave me something to think about," he said. "I had saved you from going over that cliff, but you weren't even afraid. It's like you were more annoyed at the situation. So many people would be paralyzed by what was happening, but not you."

Audrey just sat there, willing him to keep going. She was afraid now, afraid that if she interrupted him, he might not open up again.

Nathan knew then it was all or nothing. They had come so far, dealt with so much and been such idiots, this was the time, this was when it all would be okay. "I didn't want you to leave Haven," he admitted.

"Even then?" Audrey asked.

"Even then," Nathan responded. "There was something about you, I kept thinking about you when you weren't there. When you stayed, I was happy, but I didn't really understand it. I didn't realize how I felt until later."

"Well, you _were_ with Jess," Audrey commented.

"I realized that I was just going through the motions there," Nathan admitted. "It's nice to have someone that likes you, and I didn't really have too many dates after my Trouble kicked in. But," he continued. "It wasn't going to happen. I knew that after you called and interrupted our evening that one night. I was happier running off to help you than I was staying with Jess and finishing what we were trying to start," he blushed a little at the memory.

Audrey took his hands into her own. "You were always there for me. I found myself counting on you more and more, and that wasn't anything I was used to," she confessed.

"And now," Nathan said. "I don't want to do anything without you. Not work a case, eat breakfast, go to sleep, nothing. I thought the world ended when you left. I didn't know how to be without you."

He fell silent, head lowered, like he was considering what life would be like without his partner. Audrey's heart went out to him. "That's why I was so set against your solution to the Troubles," she explained. "I can't think about what _my_ life would be without _you._" Nathan looked up, hope in his eyes. "As much as you infuriate me sometimes," she smiled before continuing. "I have waited for a long time for you to talk to me, tell me how you feel. You aren't the most effusive person, you know."

Nathan smiled. "I know," he admitted.

They sat like that for a few more minutes, facing each other, holding hands. Audrey decided it would be nicer if she scooted closer, so she nestled into his chest, resting her head on his shoulder. Nathan sighed at the closeness, wrapping his arms around her back. He tipped his head to the side, and kissed the top of her head.

"What now?" he asked softly.

"No more arguing, no more tension, no more hiding how we feel from each other," Audrey decided.

"I'm not spending another night without you," Nathan declared. "I don't care about the Guard, Vince or Jordan."

Audrey looked up, her face just a few centimeters from his. "I don't either," she admitted.

Nathan hesitated just a fraction of a second before he leaned down and kissed her. It was the most amazing feeling as the nerves flared back to life in his lips. His heart started racing, he felt like every nerve in his body was on fire. It was a slow, passionate kiss, one that spoke of how long they had waited for this moment.

They broke a apart a few minutes later, and Nathan struggled to catch his breath. Audrey was a bit concerned at how he was reacting. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Nathan nodded, unable to form a coherent sentence. He saw the worried look on her face, and sought the words that would explain how he was feeling. "It was intense. I know it wasn't our first kiss, but with how close we are to each other right now, the sensations were really overwhelming."

Audrey thought about how her heart and stomach both had felt like they were doing jumping jacks when he kissed her. She was used to feeling things, and she felt like every molecule in her body was going to fly apart. "Maybe we need to take things slow," she said.

Nathan didn't want to take anything slow, he wanted to feel more, and keep feeling it. He grabbed her shoulders and looked her right in the eyes. "No," he stated, firmly. "No more waiting, no more tiptoeing around what we feel and what we want. I know how I feel. If you want me, I'm yours, forever." He waited anxiously for her to respond.

Audrey met his gaze with equal intensity. "_I_ am _yours_," she echoed his words. "I want you now and I don't see that ever changing."

Neither one of them remembered who moved first, but suddenly they were a tangle of hands and legs as their mouths crashed into each other. Nathan maneuvered himself out from between her legs without breaking their kiss. Still bending, he scooped her up off the couch into his arms.

Audrey's need to be connected to Nathan was overpowering. When she thought he was going to stop kissing her, she wrapped her arms around his neck. As he lifted her into the air, her hands found their way to his back, untucking his shirt from his pants.

Nathan carried her across the room towards the bed. Any doubt about what he was doing completely disappeared as he realized she was making little moaning sounds of anticipation. He released her mouth only for a moment as she forced his shirt up over his head.

Audrey inhaled sharply as she felt Nathan's mouth slowly graze over her collarbone and up towards the side of her neck. They fell in a tangle of bodies onto her bed, and she took off her shirt, revealing the short, lacy tank top she was wearing underneath. She needed to have as much of her skin touching his as possible, she wanted to overload his senses.

Nathan thought he was going to explode as he felt Audrey's bare stomach against his. He couldn't stop touching her, his hands running over her back, arms and shoulders. He wanted to kiss every part of her at once and he didn't know where to start. Suddenly, it didn't matter as he was so overcome he couldn't move. Audrey had ventured away from his lips and was slowly trailing little kisses along his chin, moving downwards towards the vein in his neck.

Audrey knew she was in complete control as she watched Nathan inhale sharply and stop moving. She pushed him down on the bed, straddling his waist. He looked up at her, the feelings plain in his eyes. She placed her hands on the bed, on either side of his head and lowered her lips back to his neck. He trembled softly as he closed his eyes and surrendered to the feeling of fire that followed the path her lips traveled. She slowly kissed behind his ear and down the side of his neck. She reached the small hollow between his collar bone and neck as she traced the bone with the tip of her tongue. Once she had reached his left shoulder, she went back to where she started and traced the same path to his right shoulder.

Nathan could barely restrain himself, waiting until she had completed her torturous path. He reached up and grabbed both sides of her waist. In seconds, their position was reversed, and he was hovering over her as she was pressed into the blankets.

Audrey was happily caught off guard as she felt the world spin around. She didn't mind the loss of control as a small giggle escaped her. Nathan smiled down at her, understanding that her mirth came from happiness and a lightness of spirit that they both had been missing for so long.

"You laughing at me, Parker?" he asked with a menacing tone that was actual more playful than threatening.

Audrey reached up, lacing her fingers together behind his neck. "Never," she said seriously as she drew him back down to her lips.


	12. Chapter 12 - Revelations

Nathan woke up as sunlight started creeping through the windows. He was in a now familiar position, on his back with Audrey curled up into his side. The thing that was different this morning was the way the majority of his body could feel her curled into him. Every square inch of skin possible was tingling with the remembered feeling of their night together. He could feel her head resting on his arm, her right arm and leg draped over his body and his entire right side pressed into her.

It was a strange combination of sensation and lack of sensation, as where her touch was absent from the left side of his body ached for her. He was thinking of those harlequin clowns that had opposite sides of their body decorated differently when she started to stir.

Audrey stretched, feeling the wonderful tightness in her muscles that came from participating in a little more activity than she was used to. It was a wonderful kind of soreness, and one she was looking forward to experiencing again. She looked up at Nathan, realizing that he was already awake.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Morning," he smiled.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Clowns," he replied.

Audrey sat up, crossed her legs and stared at him. "Clowns?"

Nathan felt the loss of her touch painfully and reached out to reestablish contact. "You know the ones that have one color or pattern on one side and another on the other side?"

She nodded, not sure where this line of thinking was going.

"I was thinking that I was like that," he explained. "One half of me was alive, touching you, and the other side was dead, no sensation. It was a weird feeling," he shrugged.

Audrey reached out, taking both of his hands in hers. "Oh," she said. "I'm sorry."

Nathan shook his head. "No, nothing to be sorry about, it was a stray thought while I was watching you sleep. Believe me, I'm happy, not complaining at all."

Audrey studied him for a moment. His eyes were bright and his body language was open and receptive. _Well he is naked,_ she thought and giggled.

Nathan looked at her, trying to figure out the reason for the smirk, then he realized her eyes were assessing his current state of dress, or lack of it.

"Officer Parker, I do believe you are guilty of indecent thoughts!" he exclaimed.

She playfully shoved his shoulder, but when he didn't let go of her other hand, they both tipped over onto the bed, laughing. They lay there, smiling at each other for a few moments.

"I don't know how we are going to keep up this act of not liking each other," Audrey admitted. "I'm going to have a hard time keeping my hands off of you."

Nathan liked the sound of that. He had worried about being out of practice, it had been so long since he could feel what he was doing in that department. She seemed happy, so he couldn't have been that disappointing.

"I say we concentrate on finding Branson and just try to act like nothing has changed," he commented.

"Sometimes, it is easy to let Lexie come to the forefront," Audrey admitted. "It's almost like I could just let her take over, it just scares me a little."

"I won't let you disappear," Nathan assured her. "I'll always bring you back."

Audrey wanted nothing more than to just lay there, looking at Nathan's face and maybe continue the events of the previous evening, but her conscience was starting to remind her that there was a man that needed stopping.

Nathan sensed the change in direction of her thoughts. He understood and felt the same way. It was wonderful to have a chance to be themselves, to forget about the mistakes they had made, the hurt they had caused and just be a boy and a girl that liked each other, but that wasn't really their reality. If he ever wanted it to be, they had to accomplish a few things first, starting with Philip Branson.

Nathan sat up. "We were planning on looking up relatives of Branson's," he reminded her.

Audrey sat up also, wrapped the sheet around herself as she got up to move into the bathroom. "We need to get to the station, maybe check with Vince and Dave to see if they know if there are any Warrens or Bransons left in Haven."

Nathan started to look around for his clothes as Audrey disappeared into the bathroom. He had found everything except his left shoe when Audrey peeked around the door frame. He looked over at her, noticing the expectant look on her face.

"Coming?" she asked.

She didn't have to ask twice, the missing shoe momentarily forgotten.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Nathan and Audrey were in the Bronco driving to a small town south of Haven. Vince and Dave had known of a cousin on the Warren side that had moved out that way after she had gotten married. Audrey felt that their visit to the Herald had gone well, and that they hadn't given anything away, but she also knew that Dave already suspected the truth about her personality.

They had passed the time driving so far with companionable silence and light chatter. Audrey liked the change in Nathan, but had been impressed at how he was able to still act tortured and depressed in front of others. It made her realize how deep his pain went, and how easy it was for him to pull on that persona like she did Lexie. She decided to make sure that she would always bring him back as well.

Her thoughts turned to the case. Sara had come to the station again, having heard that Branson had escaped. She was finally able to calm Sara down, but not before Stan had come into the office to help with the commotion. Sara had recoiled at his touch, but it was too late. She was so upset that it only took moments for Stan to experience her fear and lose his sight.

Nathan had to drive him home, explain the situation to him and get him safely and comfortably arranged. Audrey had taken Sara home, eliciting a promise from her to stay there. Audrey was counting on her guilt at blinding Stan to help her to remember the importance of keeping that promise.

Nathan also had the pleasure of bringing Dwight up to speed, and he wasn't happy at Stan's situation. He mentioned having the Guard relocate Sara again, but this time he seemed less reluctant to bring them in. Nathan had bought them more time by assuring the chief that they had a lead, and that it wouldn't take long to wrap this up.

All of these things had happened almost as soon as they had gotten to the station that morning, but they had taken so long to sort out, they didn't get to the Herald as soon as they would have liked. As a result, it was much later in the morning when they arrived at the little house where Branson's supposed cousin lived.

They parked the truck on the street in front of the house and the front door opened before they had even made it half way up the walk. A pretty older woman stepped out into the sunshine, and Audrey noticed that she had brown hair streaked with grey and a kind looking face.

"Hello," she said. "I think we may have spoken to you on the phone, we're from Haven PD."

The woman nodded. "Yes, I am Anna Smithsdale. You wanted to talk about my cousin Phil?"

Audrey and Nathan had reached the point where Mrs. Smithsdale was standing. "Yes, ma'am," Nathan replied.

"Hmm, ma'am," she commented. "Nice to see manners on a young man. You two come in, and call me Anna." She turned to walk back into the house. Audrey smiled at her 'young man' and then they followed her.

Once they had gotten inside and out of the sun, Audrey noticed that Anna's eyes were a deep and striking blue color. They sat down in her living room, after declining her offer of coffee.

"What do you need to know about Phil?" Anna asked.

"We think he has done some things, some bad things, and we are really trying to understand why," Audrey explained.

Anna sighed, but she didn't seem surprised at Audrey's news. "What kind of bad things?" she asked.

Nathan leaned forward in his chair. "We believe he is responsible for at least two kidnappings," he said.

"Two?" she asked, and Audrey noted the surprise in her voice this time.

"You know about Sara Heron, don't you?" she demanded.

Anna seemed to shrink into herself a little. "I suspected back then, but I wasn't sure. I didn't think anything while she was gone, just after she came back. But, by then, no one could find Phil, and I talked myself out of believing it."

Nathan could see Audrey picking up the scent, she knew they were on to something vital, and she was listening very intently. "How about we start with Sara then," he said. "Why did you think he took her?"

Anna looked up, remembering. "I had just gotten married, and moved here when that girl was taken. I remember hearing about it when we came back from our honeymoon. I felt bad for her, but I really didn't pay it much mind, as I was preoccupied with setting up my new house and settling into being a wife."

She cleared her throat and continued, her face changing to reflect the sadness at her next memories. "When they found her, wandering the streets, I heard about it from my mother. I was visiting her when I saw Sara's picture in the Herald." She paused, seeming reluctant to continue.

"You saw how much she looked like you, didn't you?" Audrey prompted.

Anna looked at Audrey, shocked. "Yes," she said slowly. "She looked a lot like me. This second girl that you think Phil took, does she have brown hair and blue eyes?"

"Yes she does," Nathan answered. Before she could ask, he continued, "We found her, she's safe."

Anna looked relieved. "Why does he take girls that look like you?" Audrey pressed.

"You have to understand, Phil didn't have an easy life," Anna started to explain. "His mother was a Warren, my daddy's sister. When her husband died, she didn't have much luck finding a job. She moved in with my uncle, her and my father's other brother."

"Ok," Nathan writing down a tentative family tree in his notes. "I'm guessing that was not a good thing for Philip?"

"No," Anna said sadly. "My uncle was a bastard, treated Philip like hell, but my wonderful aunt didn't do anything about it. My daddy tried to intervene a couple of times, but there was only so much he could do."

"Your family is Troubled, isn't it," Audrey asked. "Did this have something to do with that?"

Anna nodded her head, not surprised at this line of questioning. "It kind of did. The family's Trouble never affected me, never affected any of the Warren women. My father was careful to always stay calm. He said it was the key to beating the curse. I never heard him raise his voice, not once, never saw him upset, not until he found out that Phil was being locked in a room all the time."

"Was it a little room, under the stairs?" Audrey inquired.

"You seem to know a lot," Anna replied. "Yes, it was. My daddy found out and flipped. My uncle was keeping him in there all the time. The family Trouble seemed to hit Phil harder than usual for the men in the family. Most of the Warren men could control it to some degree."

"So, people didn't forget them as much?" Nathan broke into her recounting.

"No," Anna agreed. "They didn't. Not unless they wanted it that way. And it wasn't like people forgot all about them, just various degrees to forgetting. But Phil was different. No one could remember him, or anything about him. The Trouble kicked in for him young, right after his father died. His mother didn't really teach him how to handle it, how to control it, and my uncle didn't really have the desire to. He just locked him in that room to keep track of him."

"How long would he be kept there?" Audrey asked, afraid of the answer.

"Weeks," Anna replied sadly. "My daddy took him here when he found out, and he stayed with us for awhile, but we couldn't keep him. My aunt got a job, moved out of my uncle's house and demanded Phil back. The Troubles passed and my father had to let him go."

Audrey felt like she was starting to understand Philip Branson. He was a victim here, but that didn't change their need to stop him. "How old was he when this happened?" she asked.

"He was young, he was only seven," Anna almost whispered, the pain at retelling this obvious.

"He's a little older than we originally thought," Nathan remarked. He looked at Audrey, "This would have been in the late 50s."

Audrey looked back at the older woman, feeling sorry for what they were putting her through. "There are still a lot of questions here. Why did you think it was Philip after you saw a picture of Sara? How are you connected to all of this?"

"I remembered him," Anna said simply. "For some reason, I was never effected by his Trouble. It was so hard for him, and it was worse for him than any other man in our family. Even his own mother forgot about him for a time. Once he was here, my father even forgot about him, and usually, the men in our family remember each other."

"Did you every understand why it was so much stronger in Philip than in other Warren men?" Audrey asked. "Or why it didn't effect you?"

"No," Anna said sadly. "If I had, I may have been able to help him. He often said that I was the only person he really and truly had, that no one else loved him enough. He always believed that the reason I remembered him was that I loved him more than anyone else."

"It's amazing what love can accomplish," Nathan said quietly.

"Life happens, though," Anna continued. "We grew up, the Troubles stayed away for a long time. My uncle died and then Phil's mother died. He didn't seem too bothered by either event, not that I blamed him. Phil just moved along through life, not seeming happy or at peace. I always felt like he didn't know where he belonged."

"And then the Troubles came back, right around when you got married?" Audrey asked. "Had you spent a lot of time with Branson before you got married?"

"Not really," Anna said. "I wish we had. We were quite close when we were kids, through the early part of high school. But, I was a little older, and started dating. We drifted apart after that."

"I think you knew it was Branson when you saw the picture of Sara because you knew he was trying to recreate your relationship from when you were younger," Audrey stated. "You saw yourself in Sara. And then I'm sure that you knew they traced the house she was held in back to your uncle's old house."

"I'm sorry," Anna said sadly. "You're right."

"Why didn't you come forward?" Nathan asked.

"The Troubles were back. Not every one was kind to the Troubled," she explained. "He didn't hurt her, and no one would have remembered him even if I did. Part of me was in denial, thinking that it wasn't him."

"He took another girl this week, and he did hurt Sara," Audrey countered.

"What do you mean?" Anna asked, startled.

"Sara Heron lives in fear of the man that took her. She lives with her mother, afraid of her own shadow. Not a day goes by where she doesn't feel like she isn't back in that tiny room under the stairs," Audrey said, her emotions starting to get the better of her.

When Anna didn't say anything, Nathan interjected. "Sara is Troubled, too. When she gets upset, anyone she touches is forced to live her fears with her. She is afraid of the little, dark space she was kept in, so everyone she touches has been going blind for a time."

Audrey realized the older woman was softly crying. She looked up at Audrey, tears streaming down her wrinkled cheeks. "How can I make this right? What about the second little girl?"

"Molly was found after only a few days. She was in your family's cabin by the water," Audrey explained. "Branson got away, however. We need to know where he may go, we have to find him."

"I don't know, I swear," Anna insisted. "I haven't seen him here."

"Do you know where he has been all this time?" Nathan asked. "Sara saw him on the street and that's what kicked her Trouble into high gear. If he had been around Haven all these years, I believe she would have seen him sooner."

Anna thought for a moment. "I'm not sure of that either," she said. "I've been gone, too. My husband was transferred out to Washington state years ago. We've only come back a few months ago when we retired."

Audrey and Nathan looked at each other. "He's been following her," Nathan started.

"And he came back when she did," Audrey finished.

Audrey looked back at the older woman. "I know how you can help."


	13. Chapter 13 - The Plan

**A/N: First, I have to apologize for the length of time between updates. With the holidays and the Haven finale, I have been pretty busy, without much time to myself to sit and write. The characters have been yelling at me though, they have been in my head figuring it all out for themselves and just needed me to put it down on paper. I hope you enjoy, as we are winding up towards the end of the story. **

* * *

Nathan and Audrey were on their way back to Haven. They were focused on the information Anna had told them. It was a lot to take in, but Nathan was now sure that Audrey's earlier hunch had been correct, Branson hadn't left the area. Nathan was sure that he would be wherever Anna was.

"That could explain his absence for so long," Nathan thought out loud.

Audrey knew exactly what he was getting at. "I think you are right, but I think that's only part of it," she admitted.

"What do you mean?" Nathan asked.

"I think that yes, Branson has been following Anna, without her knowing it," she said. "But I think it also has something to do with the Troubles and the 27 year cycle."

Nathan made an encouraging noise, so she continued. "He was a little boy when this all happened to him. Locked in a closet and forgotten about. The only person that ever remembered him was Anna, right?"

She waited for Nathan to nod, sorting out her thoughts. "The only time he was happy was when he was with her, but he stays away as an adult. I think he is just too damaged, or socially awkward, he doesn't know how to interact with adults."

"He's probably more socially stunted than I am," Nathan commented.

"Yes," Audrey smiled. "Children are less intimidating. Think about it, he never sexually assaulted Sara or Molly. He just kept them with him, talking to them a little. I think he wanted company, to recreate the relationship he had with Anna."

"Makes sense," Nathan agreed. "That's why the kids he took look like her. He wants to be remembered."

"It's so sad to think about that little boy going through that," Audrey said. "But there isn't a happy ending here that I can see. It's gone too far for that."

Nathan knew that Audrey would hate that she couldn't help Branson. She always took the Troubled's pain to heart, felt such responsibility for everyone. "You weren't there to save him, I don't think the timeline is right."

"I know," she said sadly. "And by the time Lucy was here in the eighties, the damage was already done." She sat a little straighter in the front seat. "I want to tell Sara his story. It won't take away what happened to her, but maybe it will make him less frightening, help her overcome her fear."

"Good idea," Nathan approved. "Sometimes understanding a situation is what you need to get past it." He thought about her plan to catch Branson. "You are pretty sure he will show, aren't you?"

"I'm positive," she said.

They arrived back in Haven a short time later. Several things had to be put into place in order to make Audrey's plan happen. Nathan went to talk to Duke, but first, he dropped Audrey off at Sara's house.

Sara's mother answered the door looking more tired than the last time Audrey had seen her. Audrey instinctually reached out and hugged her. They stood on the door step for a moment, with the younger woman comforting the older one. Sara's mother sighed, and stepped back, her hand still on Audrey's arm. "Come in, Sara is in the living room."

Audrey followed the older woman down the little hallway and found Sara sitting in an oversized chair near a window. The young woman looked older than her years, with the size of the chair making her look even more fragile and small. She looked over at Audrey and smiled faintly.

Audrey sat down near Sara and wondered how she could begin to explain everything to her.

"You look worried," Sara commented. "Is there something wrong? Did he get away again?"

Audrey shook her head slowly. "No, nothing like that. We found out some things and I wanted to share them with you. I just don't know where to begin."

"Things about _him_?" Sara asked.

"Yes," Audrey replied. "We found a relative of his, a cousin, who grew up with Branson. What I am going to tell you, in no way, excuses anything he has done. I just thought if you could understand some things, it may make him less scary. I also thought that if he was less scary…"

"Then I could control my Trouble more," Sara finished.

Audrey smiled and nodded. "Yes."

Sara seemed to consider this for a moment. She looked up at her mother, who gave her an encouraging nod. "Alright," she said. I'll listen."

Audrey took a deep breath and began. "I've mentioned that he's Troubled. It seems that his affliction started when his father died, around when he was seven. His family's Trouble only tends to affect the men, but it hit him much harder. Even his own mother would forget about him."

Audrey paused for a moment before continuing. "Branson and his mother moved into her brother's house, but he wasn't too fond of Branson. To keep track of him, he would lock Branson in a small closet under the stairs. But because of his Trouble, his uncle would forget about him, leaving him there for weeks at a time."

Sara's mother spoke up. "His mother didn't do anything?"

"I am not sure," Audrey said sadly. "His cousin didn't seem to think so, but she had to have given him food at least. Needless to say, he had a rough time of it."

"I can see that," Sara said. "But how does that translate into kidnapping little girls?"

"Branson had another uncle, a kinder one," Audrey explained. "That uncle had a daughter, the cousin we spoke to today. They rescued Branson for a time, and he lived with them. The daughter was a little older than Branson, about nine."

"Like Sara was when he took her," Mrs. Heron commented.

"She also looked a lot like Sara, with brown hair and blue eyes," Audrey continued. "This little girl was unaffected by his Trouble. She was the only one that remembered him, and they became close. Eventually, he had to go back to his mother, and they drifted apart."

Audrey leaned forward. "I think that Branson has been trying to recreate the closeness or the relationship he had with his cousin with you and Molly. He has to have very little by the way of social skills, and he is definitely damaged by what has happened to him. I think he was looking for someone that would remember he existed."

"Well, then he was successful," Sara said disdainfully. "I remember everything now. It is like seeing him on the street the other day made me remember _everything_. For years I have been afraid, but could never remember too many specifics."

"I had been wondering why he would come back here, or walk around when he had gotten away with kidnapping all those years ago," Audrey admitted. "But I guess it is because he didn't expect anyone to remember that he was there."

"The Troubles were gone for so long," Sara's mother said thoughtfully. "He took the other little girl now, after they came back. Do you think he took anyone else in between?"

Audrey shook her head. "I don't think so."

"How are you going to stop him if everyone forgets him?" Sara asked.

"That has been the tricky situation," Audrey confessed. "I am immune to the Troubles, so I can stop him, but I'm not enough. Even if we prosecute him, the prison guards or even the judge would not remember why he was there."

"Why was his cousin immune?" asked Mrs. Heron. "Is there something about her that can be given to other people?"

"No, Audrey replied. "I honestly think she was immune because she truly loved him. How can you forget someone you truly love?"

"Then how?" Sara asked, the worry and the fear obvious in her voice.

"There are some people in Haven that work with the Troubled, even the ones that are dangerous," Audrey said. "I am going to get them to help us, and Branson's cousin is going to help also." She leaned forward again, but this time, she took Sara's hands. "I want to help you to live a life where you aren't afraid. I know you can get your Trouble under control and not have to worry about hurting people."

Sara didn't take her hands from Audrey's. "I'd like that," she said. "I'd like to leave the house, go back to work at the library, make some friends, just anything."

"Let's see if we can make that happen," Audrey said firmly.

Duke looked doubtful. "Do you think the Guard will help?" he asked Nathan.

"Audrey is pretty sure this will work," Nathan explained. "Plus, Vince seemed pretty serious about helping get Molly back. I don't see why he would want Branson out there any more than we do."

"What about how they make people disappear from Haven" Jennifer asked. "Duke has been catching me up with some of the town's stories, and it seems pretty ominous to me. I know they are 'helping', but where do they go, and how do they deal with the really Troubled, like Branson?"

"I don't really know," Nathan admitted. "Jordan was always so positive that they were helping the Troubled and keeping everyone safe. She really believes in what they do." When both Jennifer and Duke looked like they were going to object to that statement, Nathan held up his hand to cut them off. "i'm not saying that I agree with everything that they do, or how they do it. But they are equipped to handle Branson more than we are."

"I guess that's true," Duke conceded. "Have you talked to Vince yet?"

"That's my next stop," Nathan said. "I wanted to touch base with you first."

"I'll help too," Jennifer immediately added.

Nathan noticed how quickly Duke started shaking his head. Jennifer had moved closer to him while Nathan had been explaining the plan, as if for comfort, but hers or Duke's, he couldn't tell.

"No way," Duke said.

Jennifer tilted her head and fixed Duke with a menacing look. "Duke Crocker, I know you think you have to protect me or something, but I am not fragile and I survived plenty before I met you and came to Haven."

"You didn't see how wonderfully we failed in the woods," Duke said. "What makes you think you'll be able to do anything different? Plus, this guy likes brunettes."

"Yeah," Jennifer answered. "Nine year old brunettes. I know I am short, but I can't pass for nine."

Duke looked at Nathan. "Help me out here," he said desperately.

"You're on your own," Nathan answered. "How do you think I feel? I've been watching Audrey get in the middle of situations for awhile now, and I can't do anything about it."

"She's a cop!" Duke said exasperatedly. "With training and kung fu and stuff."

"Kung fu and stuff?" Jennifer's voice went up to a slightly higher pitch. "She thinks she's a cop, but she really is a person meant to help the Troubled. I'm connected to that somehow, I think I'm supposed to help them too." She pointed her finger at Duke. "And don't think you are stopping me."

Nathan took this as his cue to head out of the Gull. After confirming that at least Duke would be in place tonight, Nathan headed off to meet up with Vince.

As he was driving to the Herald, he thought about what he had said to Duke and Jennifer. He _was_ used to watching Audrey put herself into dangerous situations, but it hadn't gotten any easier. He remembered how he felt when they opened the trunk after the changeling had taken her over. He remembered his heart breaking when he had shown up for their date at her apartment, only to find her kidnapped. He remembered every scrape and bruise he hadn't protected her from. He was worried that he couldn't protect her tonight if he forgot why he was there.

Nathan focused on the road ahead and tried to shake off his doubts. He knew that people thought he was a rock, that nothing got to him, but the truth was that _everything_ got to him. It was like the emotions made up for his physical lack of feeling, but in triplicate.


End file.
